A 20-year-old Syrian who escaped to Germany after being gang-raped in Syria, was stabbed to death by her own family as they claimed she was 'unclean'.
The plan to murder the girl, identified as Rokstan M, was hatched by her mother and executed by her father and brothers, who then buried her in a garden in the city of Dessau, eastern Germany, according to Bild. The family was living in a housing site designated for the Syrian refugees.
Authorities believe the victim's family is responsible for the woman's death and that the murder was "carried out by persons in her close circle with a cultural motive," attorney general Christian Preissner said.
The police believe that the mother of Rokstan ordered for the execution and her two brothers and father carried out the honour killing.
Investigators grew suspicious about the involvement of the family after reading the young girl's WhatsApp status message in which she said: "I am awaiting death. But I am too young to die."
Rokstan had arrived in Germany from Syria two year ago, after being gang-raped by three men back home. In Germany, she had been living in a home for single women but recently had returned to her family, according to the Daily Mail.
A former employer of Rokstan, Mark Kruger, who engaged her to interpret interviews he conducted with refugees for a book, told the police that her mother often referred to her as 'unclean', the Daily Mirror reports.
"I was taken by three men. Ever since that time my family have regarded me as unclean. My mother and brothers mistreat me. They say I deserve to die," the 20-year old Syrian girl told Kruger in a taped interview.
The mother has denied the charges, while her husband and two sons have reportedly fled.
