Woman (35) strangled in a home on Jan van Zutphenstraat in Osdorp

Karima Benkal Talid, a 35-year-old woman, was found dead in May 2016 inside a residential complex for refugees and asylum seekers on Jan van Zutphenstraat in Amsterdam-Osdorp. She lived there together with her brother-in-law Houssine M., his girlfriend Fatima R. and two of Houssine’s brothers. According to the court, the living situation had caused tensions within the family. On the day of her death, Houssine M. was alone at home with Karima. An argument broke out and then turned into a fight. The court found that Houssine M. severely assaulted his sister-in-law. The confrontation moved from the apartment into the stairwell. Karima was already injured at that point, vomiting, groaning and screaming. Houssine M. carried her down the stairs and then strangled her in the stairwell. She continued fighting for her life for a long time while he called his girlfriend Fatima R. Fatima later came to the complex, but Karima was not helped. She was left behind and died at the scene. After her death, Houssine M. and Fatima R. tried to remove traces, according to the court. Fatima threw away bloodstained clothing, among other things. Houssine M. also tried to mislead his brothers by saying that Karima had been tied up somewhere on a boat and that he would only reveal the location in exchange for €500. His brothers eventually took him and Fatima to the police station that same evening. During the trial, the motive never became entirely clear, but according to the court Houssine M. appeared mainly to have been angry because he wanted to look through Karima’s phone. The court called it deeply disturbing that she had been killed over something so insignificant. The Public Prosecution Service demanded fifteen years in prison for Houssine M. and five years for Fatima R. On 4 April 2018, the court sentenced Houssine M. to fifteen years in prison for the murder of Karima Benkal Talid. Fatima R. was acquitted of murder, because it could not be proven that she and Houssine had shared a joint murder plan. She did receive a four-month prison sentence for disposing of evidence. The case was therefore legally concluded as a family-related murder, in which Karima was strangled in the stairwell of her residential complex after a violent confrontation with her brother-in-law.