SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Prime Minister Masrour Barzani said women in the Region “must” be able to lead equal and dignified lives without the threat of violence, a few days after a woman found dead in Kalar.
The Directorate of Police in Garmian said in a statement on Sunday that a 26-year-old woman was found hanged in her home in Sharawani 2 neighborhood in Kalar on Friday.
Four suspects were detained on charges of murdering the women, the police directorate added.
Three of the suspects were brothers of the deceased woman and that they confessed the crime, police said, stating that the motive was a “social problem”.
“I’m appalled by the murder of a young woman in Kalar. I thank our security forces for their swift response. The perpetrators will face the full force of the law,” the KRG prime minister said in a tweet on Monday (November 23).
“Kurdistan’s women must be able to lead equal, free, safe, dignified lives without the threat of violence,” he tweeted.
On Sunday, Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani said the perpetrators would pay a “heavy price” for murdering the woman.
“We will not tolerate or accept violence against women in the name of honour — those responsible will pay a heavy price for their crime,” Talabani tweeted.
The Garmian administration said in a statement on Monday that the deputy prime minister was in touch “on this heinous crime” and that he was following the case.
“We strongly condemn this heinous crime and we completely stand against the killing of girls and women under any justification,” the administration said.
“The deputy prime minister, Qubad Talabani, has tasked the related institutions to prevent … violence against women,” it added.
U.S. Consul-General Rob Waller also said on Monday that he was appalled to hear the “horrific” killing of the woman in Kalar.
“We must say no to #GBV. Such killings bring nothing but shame. There should be no acceptance of such things in IKR, which is rightly proud of its reputation for diversity/tolerance,” the U.S. consulate-general in Erbil quoted Waller as saying on twitter.
