15-Year-Old Girl Murdered by Relatives in Iraq After Forced Marriage Attempt

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Kauther Bashar al-Hasnawi, 15, was killed by relatives in rural Baghdad after she refused to enter a forced marriage. The teenager had previously secured a divorce in late 2025 from an older man she was forced to marry at age 13, following a period of sustained domestic abuse. After her divorce, family members attempted to force her to marry a cousin who had recently been released from prison. When she fled her home in early May, she was held by a neighbor for three days before being returned to her family for interrogation. Relatives subsequently transported the girl to a rural area outside Baghdad, where she was shot 10 times and decapitated with an axe. Her body was discovered in a pit, and reports indicate that family members celebrated the killing in the streets following the incident. Allegations have emerged that a local police official accepted a bribe to classify the incident as a kidnapping rather than a murder. No further details regarding the status of the investigation were immediately available.