Family members of a 21-year-old Muslim woman in Australia had attempted murder charges dropped this week after they pleaded guilty to lesser charges for an incident in 2021, where they held her down and stabbed her repeatedly.
According to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, prosecutors in the case alleged that the family members were attempting to punish the young woman for bringing shame onto their family after she started dating a Christian man she met at university.
Prosecutors said that the 21-year-old was lured to a shopping center in Adelaide where members of her family, ambushed her, and held her down, while her father stabbed her in the abdomen. She suffered a perforated Kidney, lacerated liver, and significant internal bleeding in what prosecutors originally called an attempted honor killing.
The victim's mother, father, brother, sister, and brother-in-law all pleaded guilty to lesser crimes. The father pleaded guilty to an aggravated charge of causing serious harm, and the others pleaded guilty to a non-aggravated charge of causing harm with intent. All pleaded guilty to unlawful imprisonment as well.
During court proceedings in May, the prosecutor Tali Costi described the events leading up to the assault. She said, "On the day of the alleged attempted murder, the victim arranged to meet her mother. Her mother has then communicated with other family members."
"And the phone records indicate that the mother has communicated with this applicant, and this applicant has communicated then with other accused, leading to all five accused of the attempted murder being at the car park at the relevant meeting time, confronting the victim," she added.
Two of her brothers also pleaded guilty to aggravated serious criminal trespass for an incident in which prosecutors say they assaulted someone while they were trying to locate their sister.
Costi said the brothers had "a mistaken belief by them that their sister might be in the house and it's alleged that they forced entry and assaulted the occupant of the house in an attempt to locate her," she said.
According to Britannica, an honor killing is "most often, the murder of a woman or girl by male family members. The killers justify their actions by claiming that the victim has brought dishonor upon the family name or prestige."
The sentencing procedures for the family will begin in December.
