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No Safe Place

Murdered by Our Father

Bekhal Mahmod, Bekhal Mahmod with Dr Hannana Siddiqui

"My life will always be in danger. My beautiful sister Banaz Mahmod was murdered in an 'honour killing' ordered by our father and uncle. If those evil men find me, they will kill me too."

Bekhal Mahmod was one of six siblings from a Sunni Muslim family in Iraqi Kurdistan who sought a new life as asylum seekers and arrived in London in 1998.

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Format
Paperback
ISBN
978-1-91354-305-1
Publication Date
07-Jul-2022
Category
Biography & Memoirs

"My life will always be in danger. My beautiful sister Banaz Mahmod was murdered in an 'honour killing' ordered by our father and uncle. If those evil men find me, they will kill me too."

Bekhal Mahmod was one of six siblings from a Sunni Muslim family in Iraqi Kurdistan who sought a new life as asylum seekers and arrived in London in 1998.

When Bekhal's father tried to force her into an arranged marriage at 15, she ran away. This caused her father to 'lose respect' within the Kurdish community and Bekhal became the target of an honour killing and her younger sisters Banaz and Payzee were quickly married off to restore the family's reputation.

When Banaz left her husband, claiming he'd beaten and raped her, Mahmod decided this 'shame' to the family meant Banaz must die. Within weeks, she had vanished.

Her body was finally discovered, crammed into a suitcase and buried in a garden in Birmingham. Banaz, age 20, had been raped and killed in a sickening plot orchestrated by her father and uncle.

Still fearing for her own life, Bekhal bravely faced her father and uncle in court - making her the first female in British legal history to give evidence against family members in an honour killing trial - and won justice for her beloved sister Banaz.

Bekhal now has a new identity after entering the police witness protection programme. She lives in terror of her father's release from jail.

This is her story.

The Author

Bekhal Mahmod is admired for giving prosecution evidence against her father, uncle and male cousins for the honour killing of her sister, Banaz Mahmod. Her relatives were all convicted of murder or related crimes. She is the first female sibling in the UK to do so. Bekhal also faced threats and attempts to kill her after she left home as a teenager due to abuse and pressures to have a child marriage. She is now on a witness protection scheme, but still in fear of her life. Bekhal has given numerous media interviews, including in an Emmy award-winning documentary, Banaz, A Love Story. She was also depicted in the popular ITV drama Honour, which starred Keeley Hawes. Bekhal is campaigning to introduce a Banaz's Law to prevent cultural excuses for murder or honour violence. In 2011, Bekhal was nominated for the True Honour Award for her courage in court and campaigning.