[2] She was murdered on the orders of her family in a so-called honour killing because she ended a violent and abusive forced marriage and started a relationship with someone of her own choosing.
[11] Bekhal reported that she had been subjected to physical abuse and threats because she mixed with people her family did not approve of and experimented with Western clothing and hairstyles.
Despite this, and with the abuse continuing, she eventually left after two years of marriage; she returned to the family home in July 2005[14] and started a relationship with someone of her own choosing by the name of Rahmat Sulemani.
On 2 December 2005, a meeting was held at the home of Ari Agha Mahmod where it was agreed that both should be killed for bringing shame onto the family and the community.
All were uncooperative within the interviews and the detectives were met with attempts by members of the wider Kurdish community to thwart the investigation and protect those who were implicated.
[20][21] He directly implicated her uncle, Ari Agha Mahmod, and her cousins, Mohammed Saleh Ali, Omar Hussain and Dana Amin.
DCI Caroline Goode stated: "They had deliberately lied to us to prevent us being present [...] when we arrived [at Tooting] it was obvious that plans had not been made for a funeral [...] the family had pitched up there with no warning [...].
The purchase of the gravestone was arranged by the Iranian and Kurdish Women's Rights Organisation (IKWRO);[1] police officers and lead prosecutor, Nazir Afzal, were among those who contributed.
Hussain insisted that he was not in the United Kingdom at the time Banaz was murdered and that it was a case of mistaken identity, but UK welfare benefit records as well as photographic evidence from a previous arrest proved otherwise, and he was extradited back to England in March 2010.
Sulemani, and Banaz's sister Bekhal, testified for the prosecution; in the lead up to the trial both were subjected to threats and intimidation from within the Kurdish community and placed under police protection.
[10] To further protect her identity, Bekhal appeared in court dressed in an abaya and a niqāb, only removing it for the jury when giving her evidence from behind a screen.
[33] In June 2007, Banaz' father and uncle were unanimously found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison, with a minimum term of 20 and 23 years respectively; Mohammad Hama pleaded guilty to murder shortly after the start of the trial and was sentenced to life, with a minimum term of 17 years.
[34] The Metropolitan Police team responsible for finding Banaz's body and for building a case against those involved in her murder won the Detective Investigation Award for their work;[36] Detective Chief Inspector Caroline Goode was awarded the Queen's Police Medal for her work leading the investigation.
IPCC Commissioner Nicola Williams said: "Banaz Mahmod was a young woman who lost her life in terrible circumstances [...] It is clear that the police response was at best mixed [...] There were delays in investigations, poor supervision, a lack of understanding and insensitivity".
[39][40][41] The disciplinary panel, scheduled to sit on 17 November 2008, related to the incident of 31 December 2005, when Banaz said that her father had tried to kill her, but was dismissed as "manipulative" and "melodramatic" by PC Angela Cornes who responded to the call.
[22] Despite his family members in Iran being threatened, he testified in both murder trials and the risks he had taken by doing so were recognised by both Judge Brian Barker[30] and the police.
[46] Sulemani struggled to adjust to his new life and the isolative nature of witness protection, and seemingly never recovered from Banaz's murder; he died by suicide in 2016.
[49] "Love Like Blood" (2017), from the Tom Thorne crime series by author Mark Billingham was inspired by Banaz's story and is dedicated to the memory of both her and Rahmat Sulemani.