Dubai: Lebanese model Zeina Kanjo was allegedly strangled to death by her husband Ibrahim Ghazal at their residence in the capital Beirut.
The young model was found dead at her home according to Zeina’s family. The family are accusing the husband.
Zeina’s sister sent a recorded phone call to a local TV channel, in which the husband admitted to trying to silence his wife by covering her mouth, telling the sister: “What else should I have done after seeing her with someone else in my house?”
Several sources reported that Zeina’s husband was trying to flee the country following her murder, but a person he contacted to ask about his options reported him to the police after knowing that he had killed his wife.
Reports also claimed that the couple were not leading a happy marriage despite misleading social media posts that showed an ideal relationship, and that Zeina had already filed for divorce on the basis of domestic violence.
Social media users have widely responded to Zeina’s murder with condemnation, saying that the country’s laws continue to be unjust to women and that authorities have repeatedly failed to protect them in instances of domestic violence.
Lebanese authorities have reported a 112 per cent spike in domestic violence complaints by women between January and August 2020 compared to the same period in 2019, which has been linked to worsening economic conditions in the country that has been rocked by a number of subsequent crises even before the COVID-19 pandemic hit the country.