Kurdish German 23-year-old Hatun was gunned down by her youngest brother Ayhan on a cold February night of 2005 because she did not follow the rules set by the men in her family.

Hatun Sürücü paid with her life for her desire to define it for herself. These days Hatun's tragic death returned on the news as Germany sent details to Turkey in the attempt to find and arrest those who helped the girl's brother to carry out her killing.

Eighteen-year-old Ayhan, Hatun’s youngest brother, was sentenced to 9 years’ juvenile custody for the murder. The maximum penalty is 10 years. Her two older brothers, Alpaslan and Mutlu, were acquitted because of lack of evidence. The public prosecutor’s office has filed an appeal.

As a 15-year-old in 1998, Hatun Sürücü was taken out of high school in Germany and married to a cousin in Turkey. Following the birth of her child in Berlin, she refused to return to Turkey. Six months later, she left her parent’s home and began an apprenticeship as an electrical technician. She was married twice more and barely maintained contact with her family.