Murder trial in Berlin: Witness insults the accused: "You dishonorable one!"

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Accused Yousuf H. (archive): He and his brother are said to have killed the older sister

Photo: Olaf Wagner / imago images / Olaf Wagner

Why was Maryam H. killed?

It must have been a terrible mistake by her family, otherwise her last partner Farrokh K. can't explain it any other way.

Since March, Maryam's brothers, Yousuf H., 26, and Mahdi H., 23, have had to face charges of murder before the Berlin Regional Court.

The witness has no doubt that they killed their 34-year-old sister.

But he couldn't understand it.

"It's so surreal, so impossible, a brother killing his beloved sister."

Maryam H. was forced into marriage by her father at the age of 16 while she was still in Afghanistan.

The marriage is said to have been torture for her.

The man is said to have beaten and humiliated her.

"Her father kept sending her back to him," says Farrokh K. When her husband went to Germany with their son, she followed him to Berlin with her daughter in 2015.

They lived in a refugee shelter.

One day her husband tried to pour boiling water over her.

The home staff took Maryam H. and the two children to a safe place.

She separated from her husband and divorced them according to German and Islamic law.

Maryam's father rejected his daughter because of the divorce, says Farrokh K. He worked as a family helper in the shelter where she lived with her children.

He is 31 years old and has a bachelor's degree in psychology.

He was born in Berlin, his parents are from Iran.

He helped Maryam H. with the authorities, went on excursions with her and the children, took care of her well-being.

Farrokh K. and Maryam H. fell in love.

She tried to keep the relationship a secret from her family.

Maryam H. was a woman of faith.

She wore a headscarf, read the Koran and went to the mosque.

She took care of her children, didn't look at strange men and certainly didn't shake hands with them.

"Maryam was a very, very traditional and religious woman," says Farrokh K. Her family was important to her.

"She loved her brothers very much."

For two days of the trial, Farrokh K. testifies as a witness in court.

He repeats this phrase over and over again.

"She loved her brothers very much."

Maryam H. worked a lot to support the family in Afghanistan, to give her children a better life and one day to fulfill her dream of a house with a garden.

Maryam H. helped other families in the household, cleaned and cooked for them.

That's how Farrokh K. tells it. Her brothers wouldn't have liked it that much.

'She worked secretly and she really worked a lot.

As a result, she often came home late, and when Yousuf H. called her home, she wasn't there.« The witness believes that her brother may have had the wrong idea.

That he wrongly suspected her of hanging out in the evenings.

And that he may not have forgotten that he once caught the witness, Farrokh K., in his sister's bathroom.

Maryam H. urged Farrokh K. to ask her brothers for permission to marry her.

She wanted the blessing of the family.

He was shy.

He did not want to lose Mayram H., but was not ready for marriage.

In addition, he did not trust the brothers.

What if they don't agree to the marriage?

They are said to have forbidden him contact with her sister once before.

"Stay away from my sister, we have no qualms about killing you."

When the brother found him in the bathroom, he had not yet been with Maryam, assures Farrokh H. He was with her as a family helper.

When Yousuf H. knocked on the door, Maryam panicked and sent him to the bathroom.

A few days later, Yousuf H. held a knife to his neck and threatened: "Stay away from my sister, we have no scruples about killing you." Maryam H. begged Farrokh K. not to press charges.

“She always stood by her brothers.” The brothers were unable to prevent the two from becoming a couple after all.

Maryam H. apparently did not want an extramarital relationship that contradicted her family's beliefs.

The couple agreed on a so-called temporary marriage, sanctioned by an Islamic scholar.

Farrokh K. explains that this is a preliminary stage of a real marriage and that this construct is possible among Shiites.

However, not every Shia family accepts this type of marriage.

But Maryam H. seems to have calmed down.

“Are the accused Shiites?” asks the presiding judge, pointing to Yousuf and Mahdi H. The witness looks at Maryam’s brothers and explodes: “These are not Muslims, they are animals, they are dirt, they are not people.” The judge warns him, Farrokh K. calms down for a moment.

Yes, Maryam H. comes from a Shiite family.

But she told him that her family does not accept temporary marriages.

Her family is very strict, very conservative.

"We have to get married properly," she said.

She wanted to do justice to the "medieval values" of her family.

On the night of July 13, 2021, Maryam H. called her boyfriend.

It was the last time they spoke to each other.

She told him that Yousuf H. had found an apartment for her.

Farrokh K. had no idea that he would never see Maryam again.

"I sensed no danger."

He was surprised that she didn't call him after the supposed visit.

She didn't answer his calls.

The next day he asked her best friend to drive over to her place.

The friend showed up at Maryam's door on July 15.

She learned from the children that their mother had been missing for two days.

He informed the police, went to hospitals and filed a missing persons report

“I knew something bad had happened.

Maryam would never," Farrokh K. repeats, "never leave her children alone, least of all for several days." He informed the police, went to hospitals, and filed a missing person's report.

Yousuf H. came to Berlin from his place of residence in Bavaria.

There he confronted Farrokh K..

He asked him why he was looking for his sister and why he called her at night.

"My sister is a bad woman," the brother said.

'No, your sister is a good woman.

We have to find her now,” he replied, says Farrokh K. The brother tried to convince Maryam's friend that Farrokh H. was responsible for her disappearance.

Farrokh K. got angry and snapped at his girlfriend.

Yousuf H. then warned him not to speak to an Afghan woman in this way.

The witness gets angry when he reports it.

"He murdered an Afghan woman!" Farrokh H. looks at Yousuf H. "He slaughtered her like a sheep!" He calls out to the accused: "And you tell me: don't talk to an Afghan woman like that?" He demands his brother to break his silence.

"If you have honor, if you are a man, if you are a Muslim, stand up and tell what you have done!"

The men insult each other.

"You dishonor!" calls Farrokh K. The witness yells back.

The judge asks the interpreter to translate the accused's words from Farsi into German.

"Death to your honor."

On August 5th, the body of Maryam H. was discovered in Bavaria.

The brothers are said to have brought the young woman's body there by train in a suitcase.