BRITAIN: Heshu Yones was 16-years-old when her father broke down the bathroom door in the family's tiny London council flat and attacked her with a kitchen knife, stabbing her so ferociously that the tip of the blade snapped, writes Lynne O'Donnell in London.
A Muslim of Kurdish background, Heshu wore make-up, spent time with her Christian boyfriend and appeared to be an ordinary teenager.
But an anonymous letter to her father from the local office of a Kurdish political party accused her of behaving like a prostitute, and he believed that the "shame" brought on her family could be cleansed only by her death.
His conviction for her murder last September prompted British authorities to reopen their files on more than 100 deaths which police now believe could also have been so-called "honour" killings - murders committed by or on behalf of families who believe that their relatives' conduct has caused them embarrassment.
Up to 20 other deaths listed as suicides are also being re-examined amid concerns that many young women from immigrant communities are being driven to their deaths by disapproval of their lifestyles.
A conference in London this week has heard that the suicide rate among Asian women aged between 16 and 24, mostly from Muslim backgrounds, is three times higher than the average throughout the United Kingdom.
Experts such as Hannana Siddiqui, of the Southall Black Sisters, a women's rights group, believe that young women kill themselves to escape family violence. "The prime cause (of suicide) is domestic violence and oppressive practices within the family," she said. "We have often raised how these issues may be driving women to suicide and we often raise this with the coroner's court."
Crimes in the so-called "honour" category also include kidnapping and imprisonment, forced marriages both in Britain and abroad, sending young women abroad to be murdered, and the hiring of foreign hitmen to carry out murders in Britain.
Organised by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), the conference was aimed at encouraging police to overcome cultural sensitivities and deal with "honour" killings in the same way that they approach murder in the population at large.
Mr Nazir Afzal, a director of the CPS in west London, said that there was a reluctance among both police and immigrant communities to co-operate in the investigation of deaths and disappearances which were considered linked to cultural mores.
Police forces in areas of high immigration, such as London and Yorkshire, had more experience in dealing with such cases and were being encouraged to pass on their knowledge to other forces as the problem became more widespread.
Mr Afzal said 12 cases in London had been dealt with as "honour" crimes in 2003. The 117 deaths being re-examined had occurred over the past decade and it was hoped that the reopening of the files would provide clues which might help prevent future crimes.
"Honour" killings in Britain appear to be concentrated in South Asian and Arab communities, but also occur in African and Eastern European families. They appear to be triggered by a violent reaction within a family to the actions of a member perceived as falling outside the traditions of the country they come from.
The perception that "honour" killings are an expression of religious belief has come about because many people use their religion, usually Islam, as a justification for their actions.
One recent case in Britain, however, involved a Sikh man who tried to hire a gunman to murder his daughter and her Jewish boyfriend. The "gunman" turned out to be an undercover policeman.
Muslim community leaders in Britain have condemned the practice of "honour" killing, saying that it is not condoned in the Koran but appears to be a carryover from pre-Islamic tradition.
The Muslim Council of Britain said in a statement that "honour" killings were not inspired by issues of female virtue; rather, they were a "product of misogyny and a need to dominate women". But, according to the Observer, the council conceded that many Muslims were reluctant to treat the issue seriously because of an "inherent distrust of perceived 'western' attempts to taint the image of Islam".