Residents of the district of Suran in Erbil province, Kurdistan region of Iraq, awoke on Saturday to news of a horrific murder committed by a man against his two wives, in front of their children.
What happened?
- The two wives lived in a modest home divided by a wall, each residing there with her children.
- The first wife has five children, while the second has two, the youngest being a baby less than a year old.
- Security agencies in the area reported to local media that the perpetrator committed the crime and then turned himself in, and is currently under investigation to determine his motives.
- According to testimonies from the perpetrator's relatives and neighbors, the assailant, a former military member, had been discharged two years ago and suffers from psychological and financial problems. He had previously physically assaulted both wives multiple times and confined them in the home.
The crime sparked widespread outrage, as social media users expressed shock over the perpetrator's actions in killing his wives one after the other, in front of their children. Human rights and social activist Nawal Ibrahim said in a statement to Sky News Arabia: "It is clear that this crime is the result of years of humiliation, oppression, and servitude that the victims endured at the hands of this criminal who took their lives."
