Teen boy accused of stabbing mother in attempted “honor killing”
A 14-year-old boy from Afghanistan who is thought to be responsible for nearly stabbing his mother to death at the end of September, is now suspected of doing so because she wanted a divorce. The incident took place on September 29 just after 2 p.m. at the family's home in Den Bosch.
The woman, 35 when the stabbing took place, was given first aid by neighbors before paramedics transported her to a hospital with serious injuries, a police incident report stated. Police took the teen, who was 13 at the time, into custody while conducting their investigation.
Since then, police say the boy admitted that to the stabbing, citing Afghanistan traditions as the motive. He wanted to preserve his family's honor, because according to tradition his mother could not initiate a divorce with her husband, broadcaster NOS reported. The confession of the boy came out during his father's trial.
However, the teen boy's lawyer, Bart Frencken, said that is not the case, and that media reports misinterpreted the verdict. The teen's story is "that the mother started the violence, not he," Frencken told AD.
On Wednesday the 44-year-old was sentenced to one year of detention for taking the teen and his brother abroad to Italy without their mother's consent. Italian authorities arrested the man. The court suggested that the father's actions played a part in influencing the teenaged child.
Frencken said it was an act of self-defense, and he flat out denied the judiciary's assertion that the teen acted in cohort with his father. He was highly critical of the ruling even discussing the teen boy, as the boy's case was scheduled to be heard by a different court. The 13-year-old was still in custody as of Wednesday, and his case will be heard on Friday at a juvenile court hearing.
