In a tragedy that reflects not only the frightening reality of the lives of minorities in Yemen, but also the enormity of what minorities have been subjected to for centuries. Huda Abdullah Al-Bahrani, a thirty years old woman passed away on 19/8/2019, after being stabbed over 22 times using a military dagger in various parts of her body, guilty only of belonging to an oppressed minority.
According to sources affiliated with INSAF, Noureddine Ghalib Ali Fare’a Al-Selmi killed Huda – his stepmother – who was a recent mother to a 40-day old baby girl. Our source informed us that Ghaleb Ali Farea al-Salmi – the Accused’s father – a resident of al-Jabjab, in al-Hazm distric Ibb Governorate, had asked for Huda’s hand in marriage. However, Huda’s father refused to accept because he knew that it was difficult for a girl from minority backgrounds to associate with a man from a different class, seeing that intermarriage between the two classes is considered to be a violation of the laws and customs of the society. A society in which racism, superiority and contempt for this minority has always been sanctified.
However, with the man’s persistence, Huda’s father eventually accepted, thinking that this initiative might actually help break the chains of these old beliefs and stereotypes. Nevertheless, Ghaleb’s family did not feel the same way and did not approve of this marriage and considered it a violation of their family’s honor. They treated her with hostility, contempt, and intimidation, which in the end lead to her death by the hands of her husband’s son.
We at INSAF condemn this heinous crime against this innocent woman in the strongest terms possible. We would also like to reiterate the importance of promoting social awareness of equality among all members of society regardless of the color of their skin, tribe, race or lineage. We demand that the murderer be punished to the full extent of the law, for not only being guilty of taking the life of an innocent human being, but of also promoting hatred, racism and contempt for the rest of humanity.
