Ramallah: A Palestinian father killed his divorced daughter by hanging her with a steel wire, reiterating Palestine’s status as the Arab state with one of the highest rates of honour crimes.

The killing occurred in the village of Dair Al Ghosoun, north of Tulkarem of the West Bank. Samar Monther Zaidan, a 33-year-old divorced woman, was killed by her father on Saturday. Relatives took her body to Tulkarem Public Hospital (Thabet Thabet Hospital) where she was officially declared dead and her body was referred to a forensic centre for autopsy.

Sources in Dair Al Ghosoun told Gulf News that the crime occurred after the victim had been subjected to a defamation campaign, adding that family members played a part in victimising her.

The sources said that a few weeks ago, a drunk Palestinian from the adjacent village of Showaikah had forcefully entered the woman’s house to allegedly rape her, but family members beat him up and threw him out. Palestinian police arrested the man and he is still in police custody.

“This incident was followed by a campaign to defame the woman and [tarnish] her reputation. That campaign reached a point where the father could not contain himself, but chose to get rid of his own daughter,” the sources said.

Disowned from family

Last Friday, members of the father’s family signed a statement disowning him because of his perceived failure to control his domestic affairs and issued copies to all mosques in Dair Al Ghosoun and the adjacent Garoushiyah village. “Monther [the father] had failed to adhere to his family pledges to correct the behaviour of his family members and so, the family disowns him and his family without any kind of legal or familial commitments,” the document said.

Subsequently, the father was said to have “lost his mind”.

Family sources claimed that the father did not initially intend to kill his daughter, but seemed to have succumbed to family pressure.

Zaidan family members are scheduled to hold a meeting to discuss the death, the statement posted in mosques and the incitement from within a group in the family, headed by a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, Abdul Rahman Zaidan.

The family will decide about legal measures to be taken against Abdul Rahman, a former minister of labour in the earlier Hamas government.

Palestinian political parties have expressed concern about the woman’s death and announced readiness to take part in the family investigation to punish those responsible.

‘A black year’

The Union of Palestinian Women — Tulkarem Branch has condemned the crime, labelling 2013 as a “black year for Palestinian women” as 25 women have been murdered in family honour crimes during this year.

“The Palestinian territories have become number one in the Arab list of family honour crimes,” Nadwah Al Bargouthi, who heads the Programmes and Projects Department at the union, said. “This is a dreadful number, especially after three other victims have been added to the list after their murders were discovered to be family honour crimes,” she told Gulf News.

She said that Samar will not be given a funeral but will be laid to rest at night and only a small number of her immediate family will attend the burial.

The Tulkarem Governorate said police investigations are still under way.

“Police in coordination with the Palestinian security apparatus are investigating the murder,” Ala’a Abdul Halim, who heads the Public Affairs Department at the governorate, said. “The suspect, the father and some other family members are in police custody for interrogation,” he told Gulf News.