A court in Germany has sentenced an Afghan man to life imprisonment for the murder of his wife, German media reported.
The 45-year-old man stabbed his 37-year-old wife to death in April 2025 while their four children were asleep in the family home, according to reports by the German newspaper Tagesspiegel. The attack took place in the hallway of the apartment, where the woman died after being struck multiple times with a knife.
The Berlin regional court ruled that the killing was carried out with particular brutality. Court president Marc Sutter said the man acted out of anger and with the intent to punish his wife, whom he believed had failed to behave according to his expectations.
“The defendant believed that, as a man, he had the right to punish his wife and even to take her life,” Sutter was quoted as saying.
The court found that the woman was stabbed five times. The couple’s children later confirmed a history of domestic violence, and the court heard that the defendant ignored attempts by the older children to help their mother. One of the children, an eight-year-old boy, was told by his father: “I will get you a new mother,” according to the report.
Lawyers representing the victim described the killing as gender-based violence and called for justice, a view echoed by the court’s findings.
German media did not publish further details about the defendant’s identity. The case has drawn attention to the risks of domestic violence among migrant communities, an issue that advocacy groups say often remains hidden until it escalates into serious harm or death.
