Shock rippled across the Netherlands after a Syrian father, Khaled al Najjar, received a 30 year prison sentence for killing his 18 year old daughter, Rayan, in what authorities described as an honour based crime. Investigators reported that he allegedly tied and strangled her before fleeing, leaving him still a fugitive.
Attention quickly turned to the involvement of his sons, Mohammed and Mouhanad, who were handed 20 year sentences for aiding the crime. Judges concluded that both men knowingly helped transport their sister to the location where the killing unfolded.
Rayan had embraced a more Western lifestyle, a shift that deeply angered her family. Her refusal to wear a headscarf and her presence on social media had already caused tension at home, according to Dutch authorities.
Friction escalated dramatically after she appeared unveiled during a TikTok livestream, a moment investigators believe intensified the hostility she faced. Relatives had previously pressured and intimidated her over her choices, worsening the conflict in the months before her death.
Forensic findings later revealed that her fathers DNA was discovered beneath her fingernails, suggesting she fought to defend herself during the attack. The brutality of the case, combined with the details of her final moments, deeply unsettled the Dutch public.
