Court Upholds Sentences in Shahida's Honor Killing Case

Shahida, 22, was found dead and burned near a shelter in Lessebo. Her father and older brother are suspected of honor killing. The brother confessed to the crime.

The body of 22-year-old Shahida was found severely burned in a shelter in Lessebo, Småland, in May 2024.

She was strangled to death before her body was burned.

In April, her father Azizu Rahman Azizi, 44, and her older brother Zafran Aziz Azizi, 23, were sentenced to life and 16 years in prison, respectively, for murder and gross violation of grave peace.

According to the Växjö District Court, the motive for the murder was honor-related. Among other things, Shahida had married without her father's approval.

On Monday, the Göta Court of Appeal upheld the sentence.

– The Court of Appeal, like the District Court, has concluded that the murder was honor-related and for that reason, among others, the father's sentence should be life imprisonment, said Court of Appeal President Linda Hallstedt in a press release.

In August 2023, the situation became so acute that Shahida had to flee from her family, away from her father's psychological abuse and death threats.

For several years, she had told authorities and close friends that she was subjected to honor oppression.

In Boden, she lived for several months under a protected identity and changed her name to Lima Khan. At the same time, according to the investigation, the family launched a persuasion campaign to lure Shahida back home.

Shortly after she returned to the family in Småland, she was found dead.

In interrogations and during the trial, her older brother admitted to strangling his sister at their father's behest, while the father denied the crime.

– I don't know why it became strangulation, it just happened. It came out of nowhere. Dad said before we went there that she should die, the older brother said in interrogation.

Mother Acquitted

In the Court of Appeal, the father pleaded for acquittal or a reduced sentence.

Shahida's mother, who was previously charged with murder or accessory to murder, was completely acquitted in the District Court.

The prosecutor argued that she should also be convicted of accessory to murder and accessory to gross violation of grave peace. But the Court of Appeal also found the evidence insufficient to hold her accountable for the murder or the burning of the body.

– Regarding the mother's involvement, it cannot be ruled out that she was unaware of the plan to kill her daughter and that the deadly violence came as a surprise to her, said Court of Appeal President Linda Hallstedt in a press release.