Right before he murdered her with three gunshots to the head near her Berlin apartment, Hatun’s brother Ayhan is said to have asked her, “Do you regret your sins?”
Her alleged offense in the eyes of her brothers was that 23-year-old Hatun Sürücü wanted to lead an independent life and not submit to her family’s rules. She rejected her forced marriage to a cousin, divorced him and stopped wearing her headscarf. Her 19-year-old brother, Ayhan, said on record that he murdered Hatun to restore his family’s honor. He was handed a juvenile sentence of nine years and three months in prison. The other two brothers, accused of conspiring to murder, were acquitted due to a lack of evidence.
This week marked the 13th anniversary of the young mother’s murder. Her hometown will soon have a lasting memorial to her. In Berlin’s Neukölln district, a bridge over the A100 city highway will be named Hatun Sürücü bridge.