Friday, December 06, 2013

Cousin of honour killing victim who helped dispose of her body in a suitcase is jailed for eight years... and says he's proud of what he's done

A cousin of an honour killing victim who helped dispose of her body has said he is proud of his actions.

Dana Amin, 29, cousin of Banaz Mahmod who was murdered by her father and two others in 2006, helped bury the corpse in a garden in Birmingham.

The 20-year-old was murdered in her South London home before her body was shoved into a suitcase and driven to the Midlands to be dumped in a make-shift grave.

Three months later, her body was found, and it was discovered she had been strangled to death with a shoelace, Southwark Crown Court heard.

Her father, uncle and a hired henchman were convicted of the murder but her cousin, Amin, said he did not regret his actions as he began an eight-year jail sentence.

Banaz was killed after she walked out of an arranged marriage and fell in love with another man.

The new romance incurred the wrath of her relatives who believed she had brought shame on their family and Banaz and her boyfriend was told to break up or suffer the consequences.

Terrified Banaz had repeatedly told police of her fears her life was in danger.

‘People are following me, still they are following me. At any time, if anything happens to me, it's them,’ Banaz says in a haunting video recorded during one of her police visits before her death.

Her father, Mahmod Mahmod, and uncle, Ari Mahmod, were jailed for life in 2007 for her murder, together with henchman Mohamad Hama in what became Britain’s most notorious honour killing.

    Banaz’s cousins, Mohammed Ali, and Omar Hussain, were also locked up after being extradited from Iraq in 2010.

    Amin, a father-of-one, joined the other cousins at Ali’s Brixton home to discuss plans to kill Banaz on the eve of her death.
    All four men later travelled to Birmingham in Amin’s black Lexus to get rid of the corpse.

    Murdered: Banaz was strangled to death with a shoe lace in her home in South London by her father and her uncle
    Murdered: Banaz was strangled to death with a shoe lace in her home in South London by her father and her uncle
    Murder: The body of Banaz Mahmod was found inside this suitcase, three months after she has been buried in a Birmingham garden by three of her own cousins
    Murder: The body of Banaz Mahmod was found inside this suitcase, three months after she has been buried in a Birmingham garden by three of her own cousins

    Amin denied being involved in the plot but was convicted by a jury yesterday following a week-long trial.

    Judge Martin Beddoe slammed the ‘perverted code’ followed by the killers which dictates a woman cannot do as she chooses.

    He told Amin: ‘I am quite satisfied that you knew well before she was murdered what was going to happen to your cousin.

    ‘Her death had been planned for about a month or so before it actually took place. There had even been an attempt on her life already.

    ‘I am sure you were aware of all these matters and you knew not only of what had gone on but what was intended to happen.

    ‘I fear for any female child you may father.

    In fear of her life: Banaz Mahmod is seen telling officers that she believes her family intend to murder her during a police interview. She was killed in January 2006
    In fear of her life: Banaz Mahmod is seen telling officers that she believes her family intend to murder her during a police interview. She was killed in January 2006
    Harrowing documentary: Banaz visited police five times and told officers that she believed her family intended to murder her
    Harrowing: Banaz visited police five times asking for help, but nothing was done in time
    Family torn apart: Banaz's older sister Bekhal put her own life at risk by giving evidence against her family in court and her father Mahmod Mahmod was found guilty of murder. Bekhal says she is still living in hiding
    Family torn apart: Banaz's older sister Bekhal put her own life at risk by giving evidence against her family in court and her father Mahmod Mahmod was found guilty of murder. Bekhal says she is still living in hiding
    Family torn apart:  Banaz's older sister Bekhal put her own life at risk by giving evidence against her family in court and her father Mahmod Mahmod was found guilty of murder. Bekhal is still living in hiding

    Judge Beddoe added: ‘When I think of that girl in that suitcase in that hole in the ground, I find it really hard to consider your family situation.

    ‘It is a reflection that you are again thinking of yourself and demonstrating a complete lack of remorse.’

    Amin, of Mitcham, south London, denied doing acts tending and intending to pervert the course of public justice and preventing the lawful and decent burial of a corpse.

    He is about to become a father for the second time, and the court was told he plans on joining his wife and sons in Iraq after he has served his time.

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