The honour killing of Sadia Sheikh occurred on 22 October 2007, when a 20-year-old Belgian woman of Pakistani heritage was fatally shot by her brother, an act of sororicide.
[1] Sheikh had left her family home after her parents pressured her to marry a cousin whom she had never met, later moving in with a Belgian man, but had visited to try to make peace.
[1] Sheikh was a student at the Athénée Royal Vauban;[4] and then Haute Ecole provinciale de Charleroi (HEPCUT), which merged into the Haute École provinciale de Hainaut Condorcet [fr].
On 22 October, then in her final year of law school,[8] she visited her family in hopes of mending the rift, but instead she was shot three times.
[9] During the trial, Mudusar Sheikh confessed to the crime, also claiming that he attempted to murder his sister Sariya.
"[11] During the trial, evidence had been presented to suggest that Mudusar Sheikh, himself to marry a cousin in Pakistan, had been very close to his sister Sadia, his closest sibling in age.
[14] Sariya Sheikh also entered an appeal, to preserve the right, but it was reported she may not follow through if her attorneys do not find sufficient grounds.
[16] Following the court's verdict, the English-language Pakistani newspaper Dawn commented that Pakistan "would do well to take a leaf out of Belgium's book" given the regularity of reported honour killings in Pakistan and the common lack of punishment.