“It is what it is... If Hassan hadn’t killed her, I would have.”
Those are the chilling words of the brother of Zainab Zaiter, the latest victim of domestic violence in Lebanon, commenting on his sister’s murder at the hands of her husband in a video that made the rounds on social media platforms.
In it, Zainab’s brother says no revenge will be taken against the husband for this cold-blooded crime. The murderer is instead praised for “washing away the shame” – that is, removing the disgrace the victim had supposedly brought on the family. The victim’s brother then boasts of the “brotherhood” tying him to his sister’s killer.
Zainab was the victim of her husband’s “honour” and of her conspiring family. In the video, tribe members gather around the brother, repeating the mantra of “washing the shame” and preserving “honour”, declaring the husband’s actions to be normal.
Society on gender violence
Some societies cover up crimes committed by “the men of the family” against the women under the guise of “shame” and “honour”, as if murder and violence did not bring them shame and dishonour.
“The state takes an impartial stance in cases of violence against women,” says Leila Awada, a lawyer who co-founded the family violence unit at the non-profit KAFA (‘Enough’) organisation.
“It takes no initiative to protect women or their children. The Juvenile Court should have immediately taken action to protect the children, but unfortunately no such move has happened until now. Some information confirmed the killer has fled to Syria, while the children’s fate remains unknown.”
Where Zainab lived, local bigwigs say no crime was committed. Self-proclaimed judges and detectives issued their verdict, smearing the victim’s reputation in the process. They blocked efforts to dig deeper, then got on with their lives, as if nothing happened.
Neither the killer nor the conspirators have been apprehended, nor are they likely to be. In a society where ignorance, chaos, and lawlessness prevail, only Zainab suffered punishment – and a fatal one at that.
Journalists and women’s rights groups wanted to investigate the crime that took the life of this young mother-of-three and the circumstances in which she lived with her murderous husband and conspiring family, but they were not allowed.
Some took to social media to demand justice for Zainab and call for the arrest of the murderer, who has vanished. These calls stand in stark contrast to the deafening silence of most of Zainab’s family.
The ‘honour’ mantra
Despite efforts to prevent the media from entering the region of Sahra Choueifat, where the crime took place, local news outlets say they managed to speak to a relative, who has not been named.
They said the victim’s husband, Hassan Moussa Zaiter, “was sat in a café near his house at 03:00 on Sunday [26 March] when an unknown caller contacted him and claimed that Zainab was cheating on him”.
Enraged, Hassan “headed straight back home where he shot his wife with 10 bullets, before fleeing with his three kids and disappearing while Zainab lay dead in a pool of her own blood”.
Another story reported in the media says the killer found pictures of his wife without a hijab while browsing through her phone, which infuriated him and pushed him to kill her.
Zainab was buried while her three children, the oldest of whom is seven, are still in the hands of the man who killed their mother in front of their eyes, yet Lebanon’s judiciary and police are yet to lift a finger, for reasons known to all.
No state, no protection
Sahra Choueifat is under the control of the armed Zaaiter clan. It is also under the authority of Hezbollah and the Amal Movement, the largest Shiite party in parliament. Such areas are known to have been outside the state’s control for many years.
The Chair of the Parliamentary Committee for Women and Children, MP Inaya Ezzedine, an Amal Movement deputy, took five days to denounce it. Even then, she only did so after heavy criticism. “Another crime ends the life of a Lebanese woman, Zainab Zaaiter, who was brutally killed in front of her children,” she said, finally.
Awada says “so far, silence prevails” in Zainab’s case. “Even her parents have not filed a lawsuit against their daughter’s murderer. Unfortunately, the state does not get involved in cases involving women.”
