Sabah Al-Salem crime: Execution of a Kuwaiti accused of killing Farah Akbar

On Tuesday, a Kuwaiti court sentenced a man to death by hanging for killing a woman in broad daylight in front of her two children last April.

In a shocking case, the murder of Farah Hamza Akbar, a 32-year-old Kuwaiti, prompted women in the Gulf state to organize demonstrations against violence against women and to demand that the authorities take action to protect them, especially since the victim had filed several complaints against her killer.

The murderer abducted the young woman while she was with her two children and sister in her car, and he has no relation to her, then stabbed her.

The Kuwaiti Criminal Court sentenced the accused to death by hanging. The lawyer of the victim’s family, Abdul Mohsen al-Qattan, told AFP: “We hope that the verdict will be upheld and implemented so that the family will be reassured.”

According to his lawyer, the case is scheduled to be referred to the Court of Appeal to review the verdict within a month. The killer had asked for “joy” to get married, as she is married.

According to a Kuwaiti Interior Ministry statement at the time, he stabbed “Farah” with one fatal stab in the chest before throwing her body in a hospital. The young man was arrested and confessed to the crime.

Farah had filed a harassment complaint against him, and he was arrested and later released. A video circulated on social media is believed to show the killer shoving Farah’s car into his car and the two girls’ cry can be heard.

After Farah’s death, several demonstrations were held in Kuwait to protest violence against women and to demand tougher penalties for assailants.

At the time of the incident, the Twitter hashtag “Crime of Sabah Al-Salem” was launched with angry tweets, calling for “the harshest punishment to be imposed on the criminal who committed his crime in the holy month of Ramadan without any humanity.”

“Women in Kuwait are demanding protection from harassment, abuse and murder by providing shelters and laws protecting them from harassment, and an alternative destination for police stations to receive their complaints,” Lulwah al-Mulla, head of the Women’s Cultural Association in Kuwait, told AFP after the verdict.

According to al-Mulla, “Many girls were harassed and even killed.. and more happiness is the straw that broke the camel’s back… Enough is enough.”