Who is Banaz’s Mahmod’s uncle?
ARI Mahmod and his brother were the brains behind the “honour killing” of his neice Banaz.
The two vile plotters came up with the plan when Banaz walked away from her arranged marriage and started a relationship of her own choosing.
Who is Ari Mahmod?
Ari Mahmod, alongside his brother Mahmod Mahmod, was a leading figure in the Muslim Kurdish community in South London.
They came from a Mirawaldy Iraqi Kurdish family who had settled in Britain in 1998.
Ari is the uncle of Banaz Mahmod, whom he killed after she left her abusive arranged marriage, thereby bringing “shame” on to her family.
How was he involved in Banaz Mahmod’s death?
Ari Mahmod organised the meeting where it was decided that his neice, Banaz, should be killed.
He brought together male family members, and they made the decision at his home in South London.
DCI Caroline Goode said: “A council of war was held at Ari Mahmod’s house where the decision was made that Banaz and Rahmat would both be killed. Ari Mahmod rang Banaz’s mother and her that that was going to happen.
“In his words ‘they are bringing shame on the family and that b**** and that b****** are going to die’.”
Banaz overheard a phone call between her mother and her uncle, and went to the police with a letter naming the people who posed a threat to her life.
She wrote “They are ready to do the job of killing me and my boyfriend. This was said by my uncle, Ari Mahmod, while on the ‘fone to my mum on December 2, 2005 [sic]”.
Ari Mahmod arranged the final murder of Banaz, hiring the men who ultimately enacted her killing.
Where is he now?
Ari Mahmod and his brother pleaded not guilty to Banaz’s killing.
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However, in 2007, he was jailed for life, a with minimum term of 23 years.
Police had circumstantial evidence linking them both to her murder, but private conversations with family members and each other consolidated their conviction.
At the trial, the judge told the Mahmods: “You are both hard and unswerving men for whom apparent honour in the community is more important than the happiness of your flesh and blood and for whom killing in the name of honour is to be put above tolerance and understanding.”