She wanted to enjoy a regular life, but her brother eliminated her: Bakhti was murdered in Vienna in 2017. Now the perpetrator, Hikmatullah S., is seeking transfer to his home country of Afghanistan – despite being sentenced to life imprisonment.
In September 2017, Hikmatullah S. killed his sister Bakhti in Vienna’s Favoriten district by stabbing her 28 times because she wanted to live a Western lifestyle. She was forced to wear a headscarf, was not allowed to have female friends and was to be forced into marriage. The perpetrator later stated: ‘I killed Bakhti because of our culture.’ The victim was between 17 and 18 years old at the time of her death. The crime caused nationwide horror. Hikmatullah S. was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2018.
Bakhti had previously tried several times to defend herself against her family’s strict rules. She reported her father and brother to the police and sought protection in crisis intervention centres and at the youth welfare office. Nevertheless, her struggle ended tragically: on the morning of September 18, 2017, she was pursued and killed by her brother in the street.
Since then, Hikmatullah S. has been held at Krems-Stein Prison. There, he completed an apprenticeship in a skilled trade in 2021 and works in the prison workshop. According to reports, he is unempathetic and quick-tempered behind bars, occasionally even violent towards fellow inmates. Former fellow inmates describe him as a ‘mafia capo’. He hardly ever talks about his crime, now referring to it as an “accident” and a ‘tragic incident’, which could become problematic in the event of a possible transfer to Afghanistan.
The request for deportation raises significant legal and ethical questions: in Afghanistan, honour killings are generally viewed with little severity, and women’s rights are severely restricted. Experts warn that the perpetrator’s return to his home country could be dangerous for both society and the victims’ families.