A day after graduating from high school, 17-year-old Henriette Karra was found stabbed to death in the kitchen of her family’s home in Ramle, Israel.
According to the indictment filed by Central District state prosecutors, the assailant is allegedly none other than her 58-year-old father, Sami Karra, who had a “vehement opposition” to his daughter’s relationship with an imprisoned Muslim man.
The family had known about the relationship for more than a year, but according to reports, after the teen’s father discovered she was planning to convert to Islam once her beau was released, it became too much for Karra to handle.
Two weeks prior to the murder, Henriette had left the family home to seek refuge at the home of her boyfriend’s mother. Shortly afterwards, she fled again, after her family spewed threats against her would-be mother-in-law in hopes of convincing the teen to move back home.
Her family’s attempts persisted. This time police were called in after both of the daughter’s parents and two uncles paid a visit to the home of a friend where she was staying. Despite the presence of law enforcement, Henriette turned down the support from police, according to the report.
Later that night around 3:00 a.m. Sami Karra returned to see his daughter, when he allegedly began to beat and threaten her.
On June 11, two days before her death, officials in Israel called a meeting between the agitated parents and Henriette to discuss the possibility of returning home or moving into a women’s shelter, according to Haaretz.
Henriette refused, agreeing she would instead stay with a relative. For unknown reasons she did, however, return home later that evening. On June 13, the day of the murder, the distraught daughter told one of her family members that she was planning on converting to Islam once her boyfriend was released at the end of the week from jail.
After the father was informed of the news, he then decided to murder Henriette, according to the indictment.
“The defendant decided to cause the death of the deceased and in order to realize his goal he was equipped with a knife. The defendant stabbed the deceased three times, causing her death on the spot,” reads the indictment.
However, in the eyes of Sami Karra’s lawyers, he’s not guilty.
“It’s no secret that the family had a bad relationship, so to speak, between the deceased and her family in light of the criticism her family had of her behavior,” Sami Karra’s attorneys Shukri Abu Tabik and Giora Zilberstein told Ynet. “In my opinion, this did not lead to murder and could not lead to murder. The complaints against [Henriette] were only to reunite the family.”
The murder has caused alarm in Ramle, and Henriette’s classmates from the Naamat High School are convinced she was murdered solely for being in a relationship with a Muslim man.
“Christians, Jews and Muslims are all in shock. She was someone who loved life,” one of Henriette’s classmates told The Jerusalem Post. “She had a good character and a lot of friends. She wanted to do a lot of things. She had a graduation party and was murdered the next day.”
Refusing to answer any questions from police, Sami Karra did confirm that he was the man pictured in security footage leaving the home where Henrietta was killed. Sami has a lengthy criminal record, including crimes related to intimidation, property violations, and drug dealing and possession. This is his first run in with police since 2004.
The family is also related to the newly sworn in Supreme Court Justice George Karra, who told his oath in June.
