Man sentenced to life imprisonment for murder of wife in Tikkurila, Vantaa

The East Uusimaa District Court has ruled in a case where a man was accused of murdering his wife in Tikkurila, Vantaa. The court sentenced the man to life imprisonment for the crime. The case came to light in June.

According to the investigation, both the suspect and the victim lived in the same household and were adults. The victim, a mother of three, died despite receiving first aid at the scene. The couple’s underage children were present during the incident. The prosecutor described the incident as a so-called honor killing, as the Sri Lankan family’s mother was involved in a relationship with another man. The husband allegedly killed her because he felt that a divorce and subsequent exposure of his wife’s infidelity would tarnish his and the family’s honor.

The ruling is not yet final. Honor-related violence is a significant issue in Finland, according to Natalie Gerbert, the head of the crisis center for the Monika-Naiset association, which supports women who have moved to Finland. Gerbert reported that 12-15% of their cases involve honor-related violence.

A recent study by Statistics Finland indicated that 2-4% of the population felt they had experienced honor-related violence or restrictions, amounting to thousands of cases. The motive behind honor violence is often the notion of protecting and restoring the “honor” of the community, family, or clan.

Typical forms of honor violence include ongoing control and surveillance, which may persist even in cases of divorce. Gerbert noted that Finland has not made significant progress in combating honor violence for decades. According to Duin Ghazi, head of the Human Rights Union’s work against gender-based violence, Finnish authorities still do not adequately recognize or effectively address honor-related violence.