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 later found in a suitcase, buried in a garden in Birmingham. Banaz
had been raped and killed in a sickening plot orchestrated by her father
and uncle. Bekhal Mahmod became the first female in British legal
history to give evidence against family members in an honour killing
trial, and won justice for Banaz. Bekhal has a new identity under a
witness protection program. She lives in terror of her father's release
from jail. This is her story.