June 14, 2021
New Victim of Femicide: Pregnant Woman Killed After Violently Beaten by Her Husband in Khan Yunis
New Victim of Femicide: Pregnant Woman Killed After Violently Beaten by Her Husband in Khan Yunis

  Ref: 85/2021Date: 14 June 2021Time: 12:30 GMTThe Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) condemns the killing of a woman by her husband yesterday in Khan Yunis. PCHR calls for prosecuting the perpetrators of these crimes and bringing them to justice as well as taking all legal proceedings to stop such crimes.According to PCHR’s investigations, at approximately 15:39 on Sunday, 13 June 2021, (E. B.), 17, from Bani Suheila village in eastern Khan Yunis, arrived a dead body at Naser Hospital.According to the Palestinian police’s statement to PCHR’s fieldworker, when the police knew that a dead body of a pregnant namely (E. B.) arrived at Naser Hospital with bruises all over her body, an investigation was opened into the incident and the woman’s husband namely (M. A.), 24, was arrested. During the interrogation with her husband, he admitted that he beat his wife with a hose all over her body and punched her in the upper part of her body for the last 2 days. He added that at approximately 13:00, while beating her, she fainted, so he told his father and brothers about what happened and they brought a pharmacist who lives in the area to check her. Afterwards, (E. B.) was taken to Naser Hospital, where it turned out she was pronounced dead upon arrival. Accordingly, (E. B.)’s body was referred to the forensic medicine department, where the medical examination showed that she sustained bruises and there were blue marks all over her body due to being severely beaten.  The police also said that after taking the husband’s testimony and his confessions, the case file was referred to the public prosecution in order to complete the legal proceedings. According to the police, the husband claimed that he assaulted his wife under the pretext that he lost money from the house.PCHR expresses it deep concern over the growing manifestations of gender-based violence (GBV) phenomena and the increase in number of murders against women. PCHR also notes with concern the growing phenomenon of early marriage, which exacerbates the suffering of girls and women in the Palestinian society.  According to PCHR’s documentation, 4 women were killed on different grounds in 2021 in occupied Palestinian territory (oPt);  2 of them in the West Bank and 3 in the Gaza Strip.PCHR strongly condemns this crime and;

  • Calls for completing the investigation and publishing the results;
  • Calls for imposing deterrent penalties against GBV crimes, taking into account the provisions of law and international human rights standards. It should be noted that such crimes are often found to be hidden in order to commute the sentences.
  • Calls upon the Palestinian President to adopt Domestic Violence Protection Bill into law and to harmonize domestic laws with international conventions;
  • Calls upon the Palestinian Authority to fulfill its obligations under CEDAW and ensure all legislations and laws are consistent with the principle of justice and non-discrimination; and
  • Calls for raising the age of marriage to 18 years.