WARNING, DISTRESSING CONTENT: It has been 20 years since Banaz Mahmod was ordered to be murdered in a so-called 'honour-killing' by her own dad and uncle — her sister has now spoken out09:55, 06 Aug 2026Updated 10:02, 06 Aug 2026The sister of a young woman who was killed in the living room of their parent’s home has bravely spoken out — saying she still lives in fear for her own safety.‌It has been 20 years since tragic Banaz Mahmod was tortured and strangled with a bootlace before being dumped into a suitcase like she was “trash that just got taken out”.‌Her brutal murder was orchestrated by her own father and uncle who felt she had brought “shame” on the family and that killing her would restore their “honour” within the Kurdish community.‌However, thanks to the bravery of Banaz’s sister, Bekhal Mahmod, the two men, along with cousins who took part in the killing, were sent to prison.Witness ProtectionBekhal bravely testified in court against her family members but she now lives in witness protection.‌However, she has given an extraordinary interview while concealing her identity, and spoke about the impact of going up against her family in court.Speaking about what it was like facing her father, Mahmod Babakir Mahmod, and uncle, Ari Agha Mahmod, she told Zara McDermott on her Truth Be Told show: “I feared for my life like I had never before. But every time I wanted to back out, I thought of Banaz.“She is not here. Who is defending her? I couldn’t sit there and live with myself knowing that Banaz’s life was taken and I knew who was responsible.”‌Despite doing what was right for her sister, who was just 20 when she died, living in witness protection ever since has not been easy.“My life is very isolated,” she said. “Hearing people talking in my language makes me tense up. It makes me abandon my shopping. I look at people walking down the street, two, three generations together, and I envy that. I don’t have that. It’s, yeah, it’s not easy.”‌As for remembering her sister, she heartbreakingly said: “I can’t even see Banaz in my dreams. I don’t dream of her. I’m always having nightmares. Always. Because of what they did to her. That puts the fear in you to never be too comfortable to let your guard down.”Early LifeBekhal and her sister grew up in Iraq. She said they were not allowed opinions of their own, answering back was not tolerated, there was restrictions on what they could watch on TV and clothes were monitored, especially if they were too tight.As for the role her father played, Bekhal simply said: “The punisher. That’s literally how I put it.‌“Can I say this? Am I going to get into trouble? Am I going to get slapped, spit on? Anything that you see could be used to hit you. Ladle spoon, spatula, belt, hose. And Banaz went through the same.”Bekhal was forced to go through female genital mutilation at the age of eight before the family moved to the UK in February 1998 when she was 14.‌Her family tried to enter her into a forced marriage with her cousin which led to her running away from home. This eventually resulted in her brother allegedly using a dumbbell to violently beat her.Banaz MahmodThe family lived in Mitcham, South London when Banaz, at just 17 years old, was ordered into an arranged marriage with a husband who was 10 years older.However, she was treated like a “slave”, and would be routinely beaten and raped by her partner.‌Speaking about the last time she ever saw her sister, Bekhal said: “Not good. Her face was drawn in. You could see her cheekbones sticking out. Her eye sockets was sunk in. She looked drained. She looked like she was being held against her will, basically.”She added: “It came to a point where there was no happiness in it left at all. So, she didn’t want to be with him anymore. So she walked away. She met somebody and she fell in love with him.”‌The man of her choosing was Rahmat Sulemani and despite being in a loving new relationship, Banaz went to the police on five occasions, fearing that her family wanted her dead.MurderBekhal said her family met up to discuss the “shame” Banaz had brought on the family name which was now in “jeopardy”.She added: “They marked who was going to do who, who had what part to play, who was going to get paid, they did what they did to her. They strangled her, they did horrific things to her and they took her life in my family’s home.‌“The people who carried it out actually did the actions of the horrific things they done to Banaz was immediate cousins and second cousins and the people who pulled it together was my dad and my uncle.“The very same people that were meant to protect her, they left home willing to let these people come into the house and take her and her life, stuff her into a suitcase and take her away in a hired car miles away to be buried in an abandoned home like she was trash that just got taken out.”The so-called “honour-killing” happened on January 24, 2006, and the monster hired to carry out the murder was Mohamad Hama.‌Banaz suffered two-and-a-half hours of unimaginable suffering in the home where she should have been safest.She endured sexual violence, with Hama boasting about raping her before stamping on her neck to “get her soul out”.‌After being raped and strangled, Hama and her cousins, Mohammed Saleh Ali and Omar Hussain, drove to Birmingham to bury the body in a pit where it lay undiscovered for three months.Banaz’s partner, Rahmat, who tragically took his own life in 2016, alerted police to his girlfriend being missing, which eventually led to the father and uncle being arrested.The dad was found guilty of murder and was given a life sentence with a minimum of 20 years.‌The uncle got life with a minimum term of 23 years for murder while Hama was sentenced to at least 17 years after admitting to the murder.The cousins, Hussain and Saleh Ali, were eventually found guilty of murder and were given minimum sentences of 22 years and 21 years.As for the sentencing, Bekhal said: “I wish it was more. I wish they wouldn’t see a day of light outside the prison again because that’s how I feel.‌“I feel like I’m in a prison. I’m left with the grief I feel for my sister.”Banaz’s LawBeckhal is proposing Banaz’s Law in the UK in the hopes of recognising “honour” abuse as a statutory aggravating factor in sentencing.She believes there also needs to be more education for people working in emergency services so they can better identify what abuse looks like in different cultures.Article continues belowBeckhal, now under a new identity away from her Iraqi-Kurdish family, added: “I am calling for change to ensure that accountability for perpetrators is put in place by increasing the punishment they receive so that people like my uncle and my dad can get longer time.”