Four men face 25 years in prison for murder of woman in Apeldoorn in honor killing

The Public Prosecution Service (OM) has recommended jail sentences of 25 years against four men who are suspected of murdering 28-year-old Roshin from Apeldoorn in what they considered an honor killing.

The four suspects are two brothers of the victim and two cousins. One of the cousins is also Roshin’s ex-husband. Her brother, Peshang A. (36), has confessed that he stabbed his sister to death on September 5, 2023, on the Casper Fagelstraat.

Prosecutors think his relatives should go to jail for just as long for preparing and cooperating with the honor killing.

Roshin was murdered after she was stabbed 28 times in front of her three-year-old daughter. “Roshin was murdered in an animalistic way in the middle of a neighborhood in Apeldoorn in daylight,” said the prosecutor.

The family, who come from Syria, blamed the victim for “immoral behavior” after her divorce and wanted her to live with her parents in The Hague, as is tradition. However, Roshin stayed in Apeldoorn with her daughter and was in a new relationship.

Roshin was Kurdish, her new partner was Arab. This did not go together in her culture, the prosecutor outlined. "She had to pay for her search for freedom with death.”

The knife used in the murder came from the kitchen drawer of a bed and breakfast in Apeldoorn, where the eldest brother stayed with his cousins in the period before the murder.

“Roshin was murdered by her eldest brother Peshang, but her brother Ahmad, her cousin Walid, and her ex-husband and cousin Ahmad were closely involved in the plan to kill Roshin,” said the prosecutor.

“The suspects were in contact for months about Roshin’s situation. They discussed what was, in their eyes, unacceptable behavior of Roshin, that she had to be set straight and had to move back in with her parents in The Hague. When it turned out that Roshin refused to do so and continued living her life, they felt only one solution was possible: Roshin had to be murdered,” the prosecutor added.

The men had already attempted to kill the women once before, the prosecutor said. This occurred in July 2023. This attempt was unsuccessful because she did not come outside. The men decided to return in September of that year.

The court will announce its verdict on February 20.