A Syrian refugee who fled to the Netherlands confessed to murdering his 18-year-old daughter and dumping her body in a canal before fleeing the country in a shocking admission letter sent to a Dutch newspaper.
Khaled al-Najjar, 52, a father of nine, wrote in an email to De Telegraaf that he had killed his 18-year-old daughter, Rayan al-Najjar, with his bare hands, urging the publication to report: “I’m the one.” who killed’.
The explosive confession did not specify exactly why he had decided to murder his daughter, and al-Najjar simply wrote that he was “very angry with her,” adding: “The reason is between the judge and me.” “I will read it in court.”
But neighbors and friends suspect that Rayan’s death occurred as a result of an honor killing, with one of them claiming that they had previously taken her in when she fled the family home for fear of reprisals from her father.
Requesting anonymity to avoid negative reactions, De Telegraaf was told that Rayan had a Dutch boyfriend, wanted to stop wearing a veil and had been beaten by her father, who did not agree with her adoption of a Western lifestyle.
Investigators were led to his body after De Telegraaf contacted authorities after receiving the shocking email from his father.
Investigators and emergency services in Lelystad, where Rayan’s body was pulled from a canal.
Rayan’s body was pulled from the Knardijk canal in Lelystad on May 28, almost a week after his last sighting by neighbors at the family home in Joure, about 30 miles away, on May 22.
Neighbors of the Al-Najjar family in Joure (pictured) said Rayan’s death occurred as a result of an honor killing, with one of them claiming they had previously taken her in when she fled the family home for fear of retaliation by his father.
Rayan’s body was pulled from the Knardijk canal in Lelystad on May 28, almost a week after his last sighting by neighbors at the family home in Joure, about 30 miles away, on May 22.
Investigators were led to his body after De Telegraaf contacted authorities after receiving the shocking email from his father, who only confessed to the crime after fleeing the country to Germany and then Turkey.
Police reportedly arrested two of Rayan’s brothers, aged 22 and 24, on suspicion of assisting their father in the murder of their sister, but al-Najjar in his confession note insisted that he had acted only.
‘I am responsible for what happened and no one else. Don’t accuse innocent people. “None of the family members have anything to do with the case,” his letter said according to De Telegraaf.
‘No one, not even outside the family, knew what he was doing. I was mysterious with my family. That’s why I didn’t tell him.
Neighbors who spoke to De Telegraaf said it was clear that Rayan feared for his life before his murder.
Two people who allowed her to take refuge in their home explained how she once appeared barefoot at their doorstep asking for help.
“I was sitting comfortably on the couch at night when I suddenly heard a knock on the window…
“I said, ‘What are you doing here?’ and she said, ‘You have to help me, you have to help me, my father wants to kill me.’
The woman who let Rayan into her home said the teenager claimed her father had pinned her down in her house after finding out she was dating a Dutch boy, adding that wounds from the ropes were clearly visible on her wrists. .
Police reportedly arrested two of Rayan’s brothers, aged 22 and 24, on suspicion of assisting their father in the murder of their sister, but al-Najjar in his confession note insisted that he had acted only.
The al-Najjar family has lived in Joure, Netherlands, since 2017
Another source told the Dutch press that they feared for Rayan’s life when they learned that she had turned 18 a few weeks before her disappearance, as the girl had said that her father wanted to “marry her off”, something that Rayan had refused to accept. .
‘Two or three weeks ago I saw big letters on the window: ”18”. I thought, ‘Oh my God, he turned 18,'” the horrified neighbor told reporters.
The al-Najjar family is from Idlib, Syria, but fled their home country in 2012 amid the outbreak of the Syrian civil war and headed to Turkey.
Two years later, they arrived in Europe and settled in the Netherlands, where they stayed in various refugee centers before finally arriving in Joure in 2017.
Dutch police said they could not comment on the case or the nature of their investigations beyond confirming that they had arrested two suspects, believed to be Rayan’s brothers.
News of Rayan’s murder comes as a Somali man was jailed for life in Sweden yesterday after killing his girlfriend because he dared not admit to his family that he had gotten her pregnant.
Saga Forsgren Elneborg, 20, was found strangled in her home in the city of Örebro in April 2023 in a case that shocked the Scandinavian country.
A judge at the Örebro district court announced yesterday that Mohamedamin Abdirisek, 22, will face life in prison after prosecutors ripped apart his alibi, which was ultimately proven to be a false story.