Sulaimani court sentences man to life imprisonment for killing wife

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A Sulaimani court on Sunday sentenced a man to life in prison for killing his wife by burning her alive over a year ago. The victim’s lawyer told reporters that they will take the verdict to the court of cassation as they believe the suspect should have been handed the death sentence.

21-year-old mother of two, Shnyar Hunar, was burnt alive by her husband in February 2022. She died after spending five days in the hospital with serious burns. The husband was arrested shortly after the incident.

“We believe that burning alive falls into the category of killing using brutal methods for which the sentence should be execution. Yes, we will take the court’s verdict to the court of cassation,” said Awder Ali, the lawyer representing the victim’s family, during a presser.

Article 406 of the Iraqi Penal Code stipulates the death sentence for any person found guilty of willfully killing another “if the offender uses brutal methods in the commission of the offence.”

Hunar’s killing sparked strong reactions across the Kurdistan Region, with President Nechirvan Barzani and Prime Minister Masrour Barzani calling for an end to the so called “honor” killings, and ensuring their commitment to hold perpetrators of femicide accountable.

The Kurdistan Region suffers from high rates of gender-based violence, including sexual violence, domestic violence, so-called honor violence, child marriages, and female genital mutilation.

At least 44 women were killed in the Kurdistan Region in the 2022, according to statistics from the Directorate of Combatting Violence against Women, almost doubling the figure from 2021 in which 24 women were killed.

Femicides in the Region are often linked with the terms “social dispute” and “honor killings,” that perpetrators use to justify murdering their mothers, sisters, daughters, or wives.