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No Safe Place

Murdered by our Father

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Pub Date 13 Sep 2022 | Archive Date 14 Jul 2022

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Description

"My life will always be in danger. My beautiful sister Banaz Mahmod was murdered in an ‘honour killing’ ordered by our father and uncle. If those evil men find me, they will kill me too".

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 finally discovered, crammed into a suitcase and buried in a garden in Birmingham. Banaz, age 20, had been raped and killed in a sickening plot orchestrated by her father and uncle.

Still fearing for her own life, Bekhal bravely faced her father and uncle in court - making her the first female in British legal history to give evidence against family members in an honour killing trial - and won justice for her beloved sister Banaz.

Bekhal now has a new identity after entering the police witness protection programme. She lives in terror of her father’s release from jail.

This is her story.

"My life will always be in danger. My beautiful sister Banaz Mahmod was murdered in an ‘honour killing’ ordered by our father and uncle. If those evil men find me, they will kill me too".

Bekhal...


Advance Praise

'This remarkable book by Bekhal and co-writer Hannana Siddique, reveals their awesome courage and compels us to ask: How can this be happening in Britain? Why does it go on? When will it end? Can we feminists be as brave and uncompromising...and build up momentum to stop culturally sanctioned crimes against females? It is time.'
Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, author and journalist

‘I was immediately struck by her courage and both moved and inspired by her unflinching spirit. Bekhal’s strength of character is shown on every page of this book. The resilience she shows in the face of abuse is inspiring . . . Anyone who wants to understand how “honour” culture operates – and the effect it has on women and girls – needs to read this heartbreaking and compelling book’

Deeyah Khan, director of the documentary Banaz: A Love Story

‘Banaz’s courageous and campaigning sister, Bekhal, and the distinguished legal reformer Dr Hannana Siddiqui here document the full horror of the violence which can be experienced by women in our minority communities . . . no cultural justification should be made for so-called crimes of honour.’

Baroness Helena Kennedy QC

"We already know the end of Banaz Mahmod’s story. Now, her sister, Bekhal, tells us the beginning. Heartbreaking and compelling, it’s a tough read but one that must be shared."

Joy Kluver, author

'This remarkable book by Bekhal and co-writer Hannana Siddique, reveals their awesome courage and compels us to ask: How can this be happening in Britain? Why does it go on? When will it end? Can we...


Available Editions

EDITION Other Format
ISBN 9781913543051
PRICE US$16.95 (USD)
PAGES 240

Average rating from 21 members


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