Two parents in Washington allegedly attempted to choke their 17-year-old daughter to death in an apparent “honor killing” after she declined an arranged marriage with an older man, according to authorities.
Ihsan Ali and his wife, Zahraa Ali, have been charged with attempted murder following the incident outside the teen’s school, Timberline High School in Lacey, Washington.
The father also allegedly hit his daughter’s boyfriend in the face outside of school, according to the New York Post.
The daughter was not identified, but she informed police that her “father had recently been threatening her with honor killing for refusing an arranged marriage with an older man in another country,” according to the police report.
On October 18, the girl ran away from home and sought assistance from personnel at her high school. Her parents allegedly followed her to the school and attacked her outside, with her father choking her “to the point where she had lost consciousness.”
According to authorities, several pupils, including the girl’s boyfriend, attempted to pry her father away from her.
Video footage obtained by Fox 13 Seattle showed the father choking the daughter and slamming her face into the earth while students surrounded him and told him to stop. The girl’s mother is also accused of trying to choke her.
Good Samaritan Josh Wagner told KOMO that he was driving by when he witnessed the alleged attack. He stopped and approached the scene, expecting to break up a fight between teenagers, but instead discovered the parents allegedly assaulting their daughter.
Wagner grappled with Ihsan and held him down until the police came.
“It made me angry. “All the children were screaming and yelling,” he told KOMO.
After her father released her, the girl reportedly fled to the school’s main office with her boyfriend, yelling that her father was attempting to kill her. The event sparked a school lockdown, and school authorities refused to allow the girl’s parents into the facility.
The girl’s boyfriend informed KOMO that he had previous conflicts with his girlfriend’s family, to the point that he felt compelled to obtain a temporary protective order against them.
The daughter’s school has set up a safe place for her to stay while authorities examine the event.
