My 15-year-old relative was killed for refusing to marry her cousin
Key takeaways
- They had killed her hours earlier with 10 bullets, and split her small head with an axe.
- Kawthar lived in al-Nahrawan, a district in the south-east of Baghdad.
- 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.
Kawthar Bashar al-Husayjawi, the 15-year-old girl who was killed by family members in Iraq after refusing to marry her cousin View image in fullscreen Kawthar Bashar al-Husayjawi, the 15-year-old girl who was killed by family members in Iraq after refusing to marry her cousin Rights and freedom Violence against women and girls‘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
About this contentAnonymous Mon 1 Jun 2026 06.00 BSTLast modified on Mon 1 Jun 2026 08.19 BSTSharePrefer the Guardian on GoogleThe 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.
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.