The height of opacity: The Population Authority in Israel refuses to change the surname of a woman murdered by her husband, claiming that she should have made the change during her lifetime, before the murder.
Inbal Sorkin, who grew up in Eilat, was murdered in April 2011 by her husband David Chen. On the day Inbal married David, she went to the Ministry of the Interior in Israel and changed her last name to her husband's name. No one imagined that changing the family name would be forever and that family members who did not want their dead daughter to bear the name of their murderous husband would have to deal with aggravation and bureaucracy from the Population Authority and the Ministry of the Interior in the State of Israel.
Population and Immigration Authority (Archive), photo: Gideon Markowitz
Inbal and David were together for three years. While the two lived in Kiryat Motzkin, David Chen stabbed Inbal with a kitchen knife and murdered her. He was arrested and confessed to the murder. An autopsy revealed that Inbal was pregnant. After the murder, her family described a problematic relationship, jealousy on the part of the suspect, and verbal abuse even before the wedding.
Inbal's family had tried in the past to change their deceased daughter's name back to her family name before her marriage, but were met with a wall and opacity. Inbal's mother, Eliane Sorkin, even made another appointment with the Interior Ministry for August, in another attempt to change her late daughter's last name. "I can't sleep at night knowing that my daughter, who was murdered by her husband, will bear his last name even when she dies. She's no longer here to change the name, we're here for her to do it."
Campaign against violence against women (archive) \\ Photo: Naamat
The Population and Immigration Authority said in response: "Regarding changes in the registry of a deceased person, this is indeed an unfortunate and tragic case. However, according to the rules, changes cannot be made to the registry of a deceased person if he did not do so himself during his lifetime."
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