Calls grow for execution of Kuwaiti woman’s killer

KUWAIT CITY: Women in Kuwait demanded better protections from male violence at a protest in response to the murder of a woman by a man her family said they had previously reported to authorities for harassing her.

Farah Hamza Akbar was on Tuesday taken from her car by a man who took her away, stabbed her and left her outside a hospital, the family’s lawyer and Kuwait’s Interior Ministry said.

Kuwait’s Interior Ministry said they arrested an unidentified male citizen quickly after he abducted a woman.

The arrested man admitted to stabbing the victim in the chest and killing her, the ministry said, triggering calls for his execution.

The incident has re-ignited criticism of how women are treated by the society.

The killing comes two months after a movement began in Kuwait online calling for better protection for women from harassment and violence, dubbed Kuwait’s #metoo moment.

The family’s lawyer Abdul Mohsin Al Qattan said Farah, on the day of her death, was followed by the suspect her while she was leaving her house with her daughter and niece.

He crashed his car into hers and took her away.

Qattan said the family had lodged complaints against him previously.

A campaign has been running for several years to overturn a part of the penal code which allows men reduced sentences for killing women found in the act of adultery.

Last September, a new law introduced some protections against domestic violence.

In the same month, a pregnant Kuwaiti was shot to death by her brother due to a marriage dispute.

According to AFP, some 200 people including men, wore black clothes to mourn the victim and rallied under the slogan “Who is next?”

They demanded tougher penalties for those who assault women and raised banners reading “We will not be silent” and “Stop killing women.” Others held a large banner with the names of 10 Kuwaiti women who have been killed in recent years, and the message: “These are women who were killed silently and we did not mention their names.”

Several members of Akbar’s family participated in the rally in Kuwait City, demanding justice.

“Where was she at fault, why was she killed?’’ asked her aunt.

Kuwaiti activist Arwa Al Waqian demanded that the authorities take action when women complain of harassment.