Iraqis protest after father murders YouTuber daughter

• Tiba al-Ali, 22, was killed by her father.
• She had amassed a YouTube following by streaming videos of her daily life.
• She also accuses her brother of sexual assault in the recordings.

Iraqi activists demonstrated on Sunday to demand a domestic violence law, just days after a YouTuber was strangled by her father in a killing that outraged the conservative country.

Tiba al-Ali, 22, was killed by her father on January 31 in Diwaniyah, the interior ministry’s spokesman Saad Maan announced on Twitter on Friday.

Maan stated that an attempt had been made to settle a “family dispute” between the young woman and her relatives. Later, the father surrendered to authorities and admitted to murdering his daughter.

According to accounts, security authorities blocked some 20 activists from demonstrating outside the country’s Supreme Judicial Council on Sunday, and they instead congregated at a road leading to the institution.

Some held placards saying “Stop killing women” and “Tiba’s killer must be held to account”.

“We demand laws to protect women, especially laws against domestic violence,” 22-year-old protester Rose Hamid told sources.

“We came here to protest against Tiba’s murder and against all others. Who will be the next victim?”

UN mission in Iraq

Another demonstrator, Lina Ali, said: “We will keep mobilizing because of rising domestic violence and killings of women.”

The UN mission in Iraq condemned Ali’s “abhorrent killing” and urged the Baghdad government to pass “a law that specifically criminalizes gender-based violence” on Sunday.

In Turkey, she had amassed a YouTube following by streaming videos of her daily life, in which her fiance frequently appeared.

Recordings allegedly of discussions with Ali’s father, who was unhappy because his daughter was living in Turkey, were published on social media by a friend of Ali and picked up by activists.

She also accuses her brother of sexual assault in the recordings.

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