25th victim
Woman murdered in Acre a week after mass protests
A 30-year-old woman, Eman Ahmad Awad, was found stabbed on Tuesday in her home in Acre, just one week after countrywide protests were held over the government’s mishandling of crimes against women.
Awad was the 25th woman to have been killed this year.
She was first declared in critical condition, according to medical sources, and life-saving measures were attempted before paramedics declared her death. Police opened an investigation into the incident.
Groups working to combat violence against women have called on the public to stop at 10 a.m. Wednesday for 25 minutes to remember the victims. The high school teachers’ organization also announced that schools will stop for 25 minutes throughout the country to protest the murder.
While the background remains unknown, there were no earlier complaints filed between Awad and her husband, so it is unclear whether this was a case of domestic violence.
The victim’s husband was taken for questioning after he assaulted police who arrived at the scene.
The victim’s neighbors reported that the husband ran down the steps of the couple’s home, shouting “they’ve killed my wife – they’ve killed Eman!” He claimed that on arriving home he found her stabbed and lifeless. This was the victim’s second marriage.
“When we arrived at the scene, we were taken to the apartment where we saw a woman in her 30’s with evidence of violence, unconscious, with no pulse and not breathing,” said Magen David Adom paramedic Michael Babionishev. “We conducted a medical examination and found that she was lifeless. We were forced to declare her dead at the scene.”
“The city that is in mourning today is the city I love, the city where I live, Acre,” said MK Aida Touma-Sliman, chairwoman of the Knesset’s Committee on the Status of Women and Gender Equality. “The families that lost their loved one just a little while ago are families whom I know, and I cannot imagine how they will bear the pain of their loss.”
Touma-Sliman explained, “This is the 25th woman this year who is no longer with us. There are also partners in this murder, there are accomplices, some of them knowingly and some unintentionally.”
Samuel Thrope translated this report from Maariv.