A father murders his daughter because he does not like her choice of boyfriend. Orla Clinton in Stockholm reports on a so-called honour killing that has shocked Sweden and highlighted problems faced by second generation immigrants
On the night of January 21st last, Fadime Sahindals, a 26-year-old social studies student, arranged a secret meeting with her mother and sisters to bid them farewell. She was leaving Sweden in a few hours for Kenya on an internship.
She almost made it.
But her 56-year-old father tracked her down, and shot her dead in front of her mother and sisters.
Fadime gave a speech to the Swedish parliament in late November. She described her experiences as a young immigrant woman and the inherent difficulties of balancing the demands of one's own tradition and background with those of a new society.
For Fadime, Sweden meant freedom. It opened the possibility for her to create her future outside of the norms of her own culture. Her story is one of choices made and decisions taken, and how at each turn, this right was thwarted.
Fadime was seven years old when she arrived with her family in Sweden. They had abandoned their small Kurdish village of Elbistan, in south-eastern Turkey for a better economic future. By all accounts they were a happy family and the little girl quickly adapted to Sweden, mastering the language and doing well in school.
"My parents thought that school was good as long as one learnt how to read and write. But girls didn't need higher education; the most important thing was to return to Turkey to get married," Fadime told the parliament.
Her parents wanted to marry her off to a cousin in Turkey when she became a teenager. She revolted, protesting her youth and proclaiming her right to decide who and when to marry.
Fadime had her own dreams and goals, something frowned upon by her traditional Kurdish upbringing. "I wanted to make my own mistakes and learn by them. And no one else should decide how I should think and act," she said. "I regarded myself as part of the Swedish society."
Unfortunately her parents did not. They regarded Sweden as a country lacking in morals and were determined to protect their daughter from it at all costs. They didn't know Swedes and didn't want to either. They kept to themselves and their own Kurdish background. There were few structures or support groups to help them integrate and manoeuvre through the many obstacles which a new country brings.
The pressure on Fadime to maintain Kurdish tradition was enormous. She had grown up in Sweden, had Swedish friends, and went to a Swedish school. When she was 21 years old, she fell in love with Patrik Lindesjö, a young Swedish man. When her father discovered the affair he was horrified. Family honour had been broken and he had to avenge it. Fadime would pay for this betrayal. She was put under pressure from male relatives and friends to vindicate the family's honour. Fadime also received threats of rape and death.
Life became unbearable for the young couple. She turned to the police but was distressed to find little understanding and support. She decided to take her story to the media. It received widespread publicity in the Swedish press and on television. Fadime became the voice and face of many young immigrant girls, who risked death, if they didn't submit to their family's will and way of life.
She started court proceedings against her father and brother for their threatening and abusive behaviour. They were charged and sentenced to conditional probation. But this was no easy victory. Fadime's family abandoned her and instead rallied round the father.
A few weeks later Patrik was killed in a car crash. She struggled with the loss continuing her studies and her campaign for immigrant women's rights.
"Today I am strong and stable but it has taken a long time to reach this point," said Fadime to the members of parliament. "I have given up my entire background and started over building my identity and myself. I have managed to create a platform on which I can stand on my own two feet. I have struggled so much to get here and paid a very high price. In spite of paying this high price I don't regret deciding to take my liberty. Of course I am sad over what has happened and what I've lost but I am not and cannot be bitter".
"My family has lost their honour and their daughter and I have lost all my nearest and dearest".
In a memorial service, in Uppsala Cathedral on Monday, thousands turned out to honour the memory of this brave and ambitious young woman. Although not a member of the Swedish church, she had wished to be married and buried from the cathedral. Among the participants were Crown Princess Victoria, Integration Minister Mona Sahlin and the Speaker of Parliament.
Swedish television broadcast live the service which combined both Christian and Muslim traditions. Friends gathered round Fadime's coffin as her favourite song "One" by U2 with the lyric, "one life you've got to do what you should", echoed through the cathedral.
In a symbolic and proud final gesture, Fadime's female Kurdish relatives and friends carried her coffin away from the Cathedral to be buried alongside her beloved boyfriend.
Sadly, Fadime is but one of thousands throughout the world who die each year through the practice of "honour killings". And as she was being laid to rest, another terrified young Muslim woman was raising her voice in a Stockholm court, testifying against her own father.