Murder in Sweden believed to be 'honor killing'

The Local:

Swedish prosecutors on Tuesday requested that a couple and their two teenage children be remanded in custody on suspicion of murdering a man who wanted to marry their daughter, in what is believed to be an honour killing.

The mother, father, 17-year-old son and 16-year-old daughter in the family of Afghan origin who live in Högsby, southern Sweden, "are all suspected" of participating in the murder of the daughter's boyfriend Abbas Rezai, prosecutor Kjell Yngvesson told AFP.

He said the girl's brother had confessed to the crime, but that he was still requesting that all four family members be remanded in custody.

"For the time being they are all suspects," he said, adding that it was possible the boy had confessed to shield his family.

According to media reports, the 16-year-old girl, whose identity was not revealed, was secretly engaged to Rezai, a 20-year-old student also of Afghan origin, but her family had wanted her to marry a cousin living in Denmark.

She reportedly ran away from home when she learned of her parents' wedding plans for her, but after a month the young couple was lured back to the family home in southern Sweden last week with promises that they would be permitted to marry.

Rezai was found stabbed to death in the family home last Friday. Yngvesson would not confirm outright that the four were suspected of an honour killing, but said "it is not impossible".

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