Luqa Habib, 16, was talking to her lover at the eve of Valentine’s Day in the backyard of her house but when suddenly her brother came out, he opened his gun’s fire at the two lovers. He killed Luqa by three bullets and handcuffed the young man who was talking to his sister.
The accident took place in Umm Hanta village of Jalawla subdistrict of Diyala province 8.30 pm on February 13, 2021. Luqa’s family insisted on virginity test to determine if she was virgin or had sex with her lover in order to sort it out in the social “Tribal Reconciliation.”
Tribal law or tribal reconciliation is resolving an inter-tribal conflict by tribe chieftains instead of going to court by one tribe giving one money or girls or women for marriage to another tribe. In particularly serious cases such as in the case of honor crimes or the murder of a tribal leader, tribes may impose capital punishment on the culprit.
According to reports, tribal justice has reportedly gained renewed strength as a result of successive conflicts affecting Iraq, weak state authority and an ineffective formal justice system and people increasingly resort to tribes to resolve their differences, according to a report by United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees UNHCR about Tribal Conflict Resolution in Iraq in January 2021.
Saleh Mohammed, a relative o Luqa, lives in the same village. He told KirkukNow that her family killed her. “They young man who was with her has asked for her hand couple of times but her brother and father objected.”
“They young man who was with her has asked for her hand couple of times but her brother and father objected.”
Residents of the village told KirkukNow that the family was pushing Luqa for an arranged marriage with a cousin but she rejected it and insisted to marry her lover who also lives in the same village and have relation ties.
“The two were in love and Luqa wanted to marry only him,” Mohammed said. He father and brother handcuffed the young man after the shooting but released him later. The accident will be sorted out according to tribal law, he added.
The father and the brother postponed the burial until virginity test was done in hospital of Baquba, center of Diyala province. “The medical report proved she was virgin and I swear by earth and sky that she was virgin and I have told the Sheikh of this area and all village residents,” Mohammed added.
Umm Hanta village is home for 500 families and all are relatives. In the region tribal law and reconciliation is dominant to resolve social issue replacing civil law by the state. Jalawla sub-district is one of the disputed areas according to Iraqi constitution with a mixture of Arab, Kurd and Turkmen ethnicities.
Police of Jalawla has arrested brother of Luqa who shot fire and her lover.
A security source anonymously confirmed Mohammed’s tale. “There are intensive efforts by the sheikhs in the area to solve the issue tribally, he told KirkukNow. “The Sheikhs in this region have big influence and people listen to them.”
“Relatives of Luqa have not filed lawsuit because this is an honor related issue and it is not taken to courts and they will penalize the culprit even if he is convicted and punished by law,” he added.
“Relatives of Luqa have not filed lawsuit because this is an honor related issue and it is not taken to courts and they will penalize the culprit even if he is convicted and punished by law,” he added.
Luqa was buried on Valentine’s day on February 14th, 2021 on 1.30 pm Baghdad time zone upon her father’s permission. No burial or funeral ceremony were hold.
ISIS militants took control of Jalawla subdistrict in 2014. By the end of the same year, Peshmerga forces of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) expelled ISIS and took control. In October 2017 forces from the Federal Government forced Peshmerga out.
Figures by civil society organizations in Diyala show that 120 cases of violence against women were registered in Jalawla in 2020. Crimes of killing for honor were reported.
Amal Fouad, a women’s right activist in Khanaqin district of Diyalah, said killing crimes of honor girls and women are popular. “It goes covered by tribal resolution thus women become victims of tribal resolution.”
“This solution is not fair because it is another form of violence against women. Law should be the only mediator in these issues and the perpetrators should be legally punished not by the sheikh and tribe chiefs,” Fouad added.
