Morning Star News, 16 March 2022 (excerpts)
A young woman preparing to be baptized in Erbil, Iraq last week was instead killed in a possible “honour” killing for converting to Christianity, with Muslim family members reportedly suspected, according to local media.
The body of Eman Sami Maghdid, 20, was found on March 7 bound with tape and discarded among the vacant, sandy fields surrounding Erbil International Airport, in northern Iraq’s Kurdistan region. She had been stabbed multiple times.
Arabic-language media reported that Maghdid’s father is a prominent local mosque leader. Her uncle was taken into custody in connection with the slaying, but it was unclear if he was charged or merely questioned. Reports were conflicting about the possible arrest of another relative.
A few weeks before she was killed, she had announced her conversion to Christianity on one of her social media accounts, according to Middle East Concern.
Maghdid, who went by the Christian moniker Maria, enjoyed a wide following across several social media sites where she extolled the values of equal rights and women’s freedom to almost 50,000 followers.
She had not only put her faith in Christ but also had been a longstanding, outspoken critic of Islam. She appeared in some of her videos wearing a cross on a necklace.
Maghdid also sang Christian hymns on a video on Tik Tok, according to another advocacy group.