My 15-year-old relative was killed for refusing to marry her cousin. My family celebrated

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My 15-year-old relative was killed for refusing to marry her cousin. My family celebrated by dancing in the street
Horrified by the recent murder of Kawthar al-Husayjawi, one of her female relatives describes what happened – and her fears for other women and girls forced into early marriage in Iraq
by Anonymous
1 Jun 2026

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Kawthar Bashar al-Husayjawi, the 15-year-old girl who was killed by family members in Iraq after refusing to marry her cousin

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The men of my tribe [extended family] threw my relative Kawthar Bashar al-Husayjawi, 15, into a pit and put a little dirt over her body. They had killed her hours earlier with 10 bullets, and split her small head with an axe. My family then joined others in coming on to the streets to dance and celebrate her death.
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Kawthar lived in al-Nahrawan, a district in the south-east of Baghdad. She had been taken out of school and at age 13 forced to marry an alcoholic years older than her.

She was subjected to a year of violence and mistreatment before fleeing back to her family, who initially subjected her to house arrest and constant pressure to return to her husband and abuser. She threatened to end her life and, eventually, was officially divorced in court late in 2025.

Soon after, her cousin was released from prison and asked Kawthar’s parents for her hand in marriage. Kawthar refused as everyone knew the groom was involved in dealing in drugs and alcohol. Her family ignored her and gave their approval as, according to their custom, “a man’s word is not broken by a girl.” Her mother and female relatives at home could not join her in saying no.
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After fleeing, she was spotted by a neighbour who abducted her for three days and, she says, subjected her to terrible things that she did not disclose. Although she assured her family that she had not absconded with him willingly – and even after surveillance cameras appeared to support her account of being dragged by force – her family refused to believe her.
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When I heard the news, I was at home on a normal afternoon, until my father came in with the news of her disappearance and murder. If I had heard this story from a stranger, in a post on Instagram, I probably would not have believed it. How can a person carry all this ugliness in their heart and inflict it upon their daughter? But it happened here to a girl I knew and once sat with.
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Iraq’s new laws permitting children as young as nine years old to marry is terrifying to me, because a child pulled out of school and pushed into early marriage becomes more vulnerable and less able to protect herself or object to the violence she is subjected to. Kawthar had not yet reached an age that allowed her to understand life, yet everyone was treating her as a woman who must be subdued, monitored and punished.

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