CTG participates in arresting murderers of woman killed in Erbil

Iraq's Defense Ministry announced on Wednesday that the murderer of the woman killed in Erbil earlier this week was arrested in Kirkuk with the help of Slemani's Counter-Terrorism Group (CTG).

According to a statement the Iraqi Ministry of Defense, a special force from the CTG of Slemani and the General Directorate of Intelligence and Security of Kirkuk were able to arrest Iman Saeed (Maria Sami)'s murderer in Kirkuk.

Iman Saeed, known as Maria Sami, was shot dead by her brother last Sunday in the Kurdistan Region's capital Erbil.

The death of Maria, which came only 2 days before International Women’s Day, was widely criticized in the Kurdistan Region. 

Maria was a famous TikToker with over 47,000 followers before her death. Her social media photos and videos rebelled against the community’s traditions. She published photos with cigarettes in her hands, videos where she expressed herself out loud, and images wearing crop tops - actions seen as lethal and looked down upon by the majority of the Kurdish community.

The Kurdistan Region suffers from high rates of gender-based violence. At least ten other women were killed in the Kurdistan Region since the beginning of 2022.

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in 2011 passed the Combating Domestic Violence Law, but the phenomena and the so-called honor killings are still witnessed across the Region.

Twenty-four women were killed in the Kurdistan Region last year, according to statistics from the Directorate of Combatting Violence against Women. 



PUKmedia