THE NETHERLANDS – Lelystad, January 5, 2026
The Midden-Nederland court has sentenced a father and his two sons for the murder of their 18-year-old daughter / sister. The father received a prison sentence of 30 years, while the two sons were sentenced to 20 years each. The sons participated in the plan to murder their sister.
Incident
On May 28, 2024, a forest ranger found the body of the young woman in the Oostvaardersplassen nature reserve. She was bound with duct tape and found face down in the water. The investigation revealed a long-standing family conflict. The decisions and behavior of the young woman/sister were disapproved of within the family, especially her desire not to wear a headscarf and her interactions with boys. For a long time, other family members were also angry about her behavior. The family had been receiving social assistance for several years.
Tensions increased further when the 18-year-old decided to post on TikTok and spoke about her family, who were angry with her because on the night of May 25–26, 2024, she went live on TikTok without wearing a headscarf and talked about her family. Investigations indicate that on the night of May 27, at the young woman’s residence in Rotterdam, her two brothers came to pick her up and took her to the Oostvaardersplassen. This shows that the act was premeditated.
Court’s Conclusion
The court concluded that all three individuals were responsible for the murder. DNA evidence showed the father’s direct involvement, and other evidence showed that the sons were accomplices in transporting the victim and preparing the crime scene. The court did not believe the sons’ statements that their involvement was limited. Evidence from chat messages between the brothers and their father revealed discussions about how and what needed to be done, including instructions to remove phone evidence.
During the investigation, DNA belonging to the father was found under the victim’s fingernails and also on approximately 18.5 meters of tape. The court believes the father bound the young woman, and that one of the sons went into the water with her. Regarding the other brother, it could not be conclusively established that he was present at the exact moment of the murder, but the judge found sufficient evidence that he also participated in killing his sister, as he jointly went with his brother to retrieve her from Rotterdam.
After the crime, the judge also found that the brothers did not attempt to help their sister, but instead helped remove evidence and assisted their father in fleeing. These actions form part of the crime committed against their sister. The brothers did not attempt to protect their sister from their father’s anger.
Premeditated Murder
This case is described as a tragic, premeditated crime in which the father murdered his own daughter and the brothers murdered their own sister. It involved a deliberate plan carried out by three men who were fully aware of the act they were committing and are therefore guilty of jointly committing murder.
The judge also ruled that this cruel killing was a family-planned act in which “family honor played a significant role” in the death of the 18-year-old. Additionally, the case can be classified as femicide.
The judge considered the father’s actions extremely serious and therefore imposed a sentence five years higher than what the Public Prosecution Service had requested. After committing the crime, the father fled the Netherlands to Syria, a country with which the Netherlands has no judicial cooperation agreement.
“While he speaks of honor, he has taken no responsibility for his actions and has left his family in a deplorable state,” in the Netherlands