Two parents in Washington State were arrested for reportedly trying to choke their 17-year-old daughter to death in an apparent "honor killing" attempt after she refused an arranged marriage with an older man in another country.
Alleged 'honor killing' attempt leads to parents' arrest outside of Lacey high school in Washington Statehttps://t.co/rClu65ZhGa
— jphilli8 (@jphilli8) November 17, 2024
Ihsan Ali and his wife, Zahraa Ali, have been charged with attempted murder, assault, and attempted kidnapping for the attack outside the teenager’s school, Timberline High School, in Lacey, Washington, where bystanders had to step in to stop the two from killing their daughter.
The father also allegedly punched the daughter’s boyfriend in the face outside the school.
According to the police report, the daughter, who was not identified, told authorities that her "father had recently been threatening her with honor killing for refusing an arranged marriage with an older man in another country.”
They moved to America. Their daughter became Americanized, and they arranged a marriage to send her back to the country they left, and then tried to kill her when she rebelled.
— RubyRedSea (@RubyRedSea) November 18, 2024
The girl ran away from her home on October 18th and sought help from the staff of her high school. Her parents then followed her to the school and allegedly attacked her outside, where her father began choking her "to the point where she had lost consciousness."
The police also said that other students, including the daughter’s boyfriend, tried to pull Ihsan away from her. Court documents also noted that Zahraa was grabbing at the girl and tried to choke her.
Video footage showed Ihsan choking his daughter on the ground and shoving her into the dirt while other students surrounded them and told Ihsan to stop.
What!!? Omg! That's my state!!
— Ara American Uncensored (@realamericanara) November 11, 2024
“The dad was on his back, and his daughter was on top of him, and he had her in a choke hold,” Josh Wagner, a good samaritan who witnessed the scene and was one of those who tried to pry Ihsan off of his daughter, told local news outlet KOMO.
Wagner told KOMO he was driving by Timberline High School with his family when he noticed what he thought was a group of kids fighting. He stopped and approached the scene to break up the fight, only to realize it was her parents who were attacking the girl. He then grappled with the father and held him down until authorities arrived.
“What I saw was the adult male had the teenager in a headlock, choking her from the back, so I removed his arm from her, and then she got up and ran with another kid, who, come to find out, was her boyfriend and she was the daughter of the adult male,” Wagner narrated. “So then I just held him on the ground till the police arrived and then handcuffed him and searched him and then moved him to the police car.”
Islam doesn’t do honor killings
— shenaé (@bigdickmineta) November 18, 2024
“It was pretty angering. All the kids were screaming, yelling,” Wagner added.
Once Ihsan was off of her, the girl reportedly ran off with her boyfriend back to the school’s main office, where she yelled, “My dad was trying to kill me, he was trying to kill me,” which prompted the school to lock the facility down and the school’s staff refused to let the parents inside the building.
The girl’s boyfriend told KOMO he experienced previous issues with his girlfriend’s family to the point where he felt it necessary to get a temporary protective order against them.
The girl’s school arranged a safe space for her to stay temporarily while authorities are investigating the incident. When asked if they were investigating the daughter’s family, the Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) said child welfare records are confidential.
