In Iraqi Kurdistan, a 23-year-old transsexual lady was assassinated by her brother.
Doski Azad, a make-up artist, was killed in a 'honour killing,' according to authorities, when her long-lost brother Chakdar Azad shot her.
Ms. Azad's death was discovered three days later after police received a call from a guy claiming to be another brother of the victim. Ms. Azad was discovered dead in the town of Mangesh, 12 miles north of Duhok's city centre.
According to Ekurd Daily, no arrests have been made and the suspect has fled the country.
Despite building her own life as a woman and working in a salon, Ms. Azad, who left home more than five years ago, has received several threats from her family due of her identification.
Her brother executes a transgender woman, age 23.
'She left the house five to six years ago, and I hadn't seen her since,' her uncle Dlovan Sadiq told Rudaw. Doski committed a blunder.'
Ms Azad's father had also confiscated her ID and passport, according to a friend of hers, but she'seemed to have received it back because she spent New Year's in Dubai.'
According to another source, Rudaw's brother departed the country on January 30 and went north to Turkey to avoid being tracked.
'We absolutely condemn this brutality and the discrimination that is certainly at the foundation of this crime,' the US Consulate General in Erbil, Iraq's Kurdish capital, said in a statement yesterday.
We demand that the authorities investigate this murder fully and prosecute the culprit to the maximum extent of the law.'
Ms Azad's relatives, according to Duhok police, informed them that she had been killed by her brother and reported the location of her body.
The motive for the death, according to district director Brendar Dosky, is likely Ms Azad's transgender identity, but 'this is preliminary information and it requires a full investigation.'
The body of Ms. Azad was last seen being examined by forensic teams.
On January 31, about 3 p.m., her family contacted the police. In January, Ms Azad's brother is said to have returned to Kurdistan.
According to VOA, an arrest order has been issued for the suspect, who apparently lives in Germany.
Activists have warned that this particular incident has been "gravely alarming" for transgender persons in the area, according to a woman's rights activist.
'They already feel discriminated against in our culture, and attacks like this simply exacerbate those anxieties,' Hafya Doski said.