YouTuber ‘honor killed’ by her own father after walking home

A YOUNG YouTube star was allegedly killed by her father in a so-called “honor killing.”

Tiba al-Ali, 22, was reportedly strangled by her father on January 31 after returning to her homeland in Iraq.

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She was killed after an alleged long-running “family feud” with the YouTuber, who moved away five years ago to start a new life in Turkey.

Iraqi Interior Ministry spokesman Saad Mann said police tried to mediate the dispute and asked relatives to “finally resolve the family dispute.”

However, the day after police involvement, Maan said they were “surprised” to discover “news of her murder at the hands of her father.”

Unconfirmed records reveal the heated conversations between al-Ali and her father, who was furious with his daughter for living alone in Turkey.

Iraqi authorities have not offered any further information about the cause of the family dispute, but an anonymous police officer told AFP the dispute dates back to 2015.

Hanaa Edwar, an Iraqi women’s rights activist, believes the footage indicates al-Ali left her family “because she was sexually abused by her brother.”

The Iraqi Human Rights Observatory confirmed this claim, but the authenticity of the voice recordings remains unconfirmed.

The 22-year-old has gained popularity on YouTube, where she has shared clips from her new home in Turkey and footage of her fiancé.

Al-Ali had visited the country with her family in 2017 but refused to return home with them, instead remaining alone in Turkey, police said.

There is currently no law criminalizing domestic violence in Iraq.

An attempt was made to introduce a domestic violence bill in 2014, but it was heavily blocked by lawmakers who feared it would destroy Iraq’s social fabric.

Local media have reported that while visiting her home, she was abducted by her own family, where she was allegedly drugged and then strangled by her father.

News of al-Ali’s death spread like wildfire on social media in Iraq, and protests were organized in Baghdad to demand justice for her murder.

Former politician Ala Talabani, wrote on Twitter: “Women in our societies are held hostage to backward customs in the absence of legal deterrents and government measures – which do not currently match the scale of domestic violent crime.

“Yes to passing the Domestic Violence Act.”

Amnesty Iraq condemned the killing on Twitter, stating: “Iraq: Gender Violence Must Be Tackled After Tiba Ali’s Murder By Her Father”.

The human rights group continued, “Until the Iraqi authorities pass tough laws to protect women and girls from gender-based violence, we will inevitably continue to witness horrific killings like that of Tiba Ali.”

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