According to International Christian Concern, “The assassination of Iman Sami, who was known as Maria, is suspected to have been retaliation by her family following a TikTok video she posted where she was singing Christian spiritual songs.”
Upon hearing that Iman Sami had been murdered, “people commented, ‘see, this is what happens when you leave your faith.’” Conversion to Christianity is often the occasion for persecution of Christians in many countries, as many groups believe that one’s religious faith is an unchangeable part of one’s identity, and that to change it is an unpardonable transgression.
For previous ChristianPersecution.com coverage of the persecution of Christians in Iraq, click here.
“The war against women in Southern Kurdistan,” Medya News, March 10, 2022:
On March 7th, 2022, just a few hours before the start of March 8th, also known as International Women’s Day, another femicide occurred in the southern Kurdish capital Erbil. 20-year-old Iman Sami Maghdid, also known as Maria, was murdered in cold blood. Several shots ended her life; presumably, her 18-year-old brother and uncle were behind it.
The South Kurdish (Iraqi Kurdistan) public began the ceremonies on International Women’s Day with more shocking news, part of a series of cruel murders of women since the beginning of 2022. As if the news of the murder and the perpetrators, who often fled, weren’t bad enough, all sorts of political parties and personalities took this day as an opportunity to announce their supposed commitment to the issue of women’s liberation. Unfortunately, they are nothing more than platitudes, which was made clear by the fact that on the evening of March 8th, a radio interview was aired by what is one of the largest broadcasters, K24, where Maria’s brother and murderer was able to explain the motives of his cold-blooded murder for almost 15 minutes uncensored and without criticism – while he was still on the run.
The video was deleted only after a public outcry, but that did not help.
For the entirety of March 8, social media comment columns were awash with people who, as always, condoned the murder. Old pictures of Maria were passed around, in which she was still wearing a hijab, and people commented, “see, this is what happens when you leave your faith”, as many speculated that Maria converted to Christianity. Lies and slander were spread about her, and men and women threw themselves into a contest to see who could blame her most for her murder. By March 9, the brother was found in Kirkuk and detained, but until then, a large part of the Kurdish public managed to assassinate Marias’s [sic] character post mortem….
