A Tunisian man is accused of burning his 13-year-old daughter to death for walking home from school with a male classmate May 28 in Ibn Khaldoun, a suburb of Tunis.
Aya, a middle school student, died on June 7 from fourth-degree burns, Kapitalis and other local news sources reported.
“The father has been arrested since the incident occurred,” Allala Rouhma, a spokesperson for the Tunis Court of First Instance, told Tunisia Live. The father’s name has not been released.
Aya spent nine days in the Ben Arous Hospital for Burns and Injuries before succumbing to her injuries.
Aya’s death has been seen as resulting from an ‘honor crime,’ a killing committed in response to perceived shaming of the family. Such practices are almost unheard of in modern Tunisia.
These crimes target mostly women. Extramarital sex, or even suspicion of it, is a major cause.
Aya’s death shocked the country and sparked an indignant response from many Tunisians.