Written by Lamia Chedid
Translated by Rabab Housseiny
When she said goodbye to her family and relatives in Chekka last Friday, Margarit Bou Karim, 47, did not know she was bidding them her last farewell.
On her visit to Lebanon, she spent one month in her hometown in Batroun in the North, laughing and enjoying her time with her friends and dear ones.
Today, Chekka is incensed and mourning, after Margarit fell victim of domestic violence and the morbid pathological jealousy of her husband, George Tannous.
The husband is a native of Dar Baashtar in Akkar. She met him while on a visit to Lebanon. He then accompanied her back to Sydney in Australia, where they founded a family. The couple had two children, Elie (19 years old) and Therese (17 years old).
It all started when George started to spy on his wife and annoy her at her workplace; and just shortly after she ended her Lebanon visit, he killed her.
"This is her destiny," say Karim, her cousin. "She traveled to Australia with her parents 30 years ago. She visited Lebanon every now and then, until she met her husband. They traveled again to Australia and not before long, problems started between them. It is in this tense, sad atmosphere that she and her children lived."
When she last came to Lebanon, she opened her heart to Karim and told him all about her tribulations at home. She recounted to him her husband's excessive jealousy. She had even called the police many times!
Margarit worked for several years at the Australian Foreign Ministry, then started her own successful business.
Karim continues, "As if she felt that she was about to die...but she kept on her sacrifice for the sake of her children."
Last Saturday, Margarit arrived in Sydney and a fight with her husband soon erupted. He killed her and then called her mother saying, "I don't know if you are going to be able to see your daughter alive." He subsequently called his son and told him to take care of his sister because he would not be coming back home. The husband escaped and then hand himself over to the police.
Margarit's body is still in the hands of the Australian authorities to complete official formalities allowing delivering the corpse to the family in Lebanon.
Translated by Rabab Housseiny
When she said goodbye to her family and relatives in Chekka last Friday, Margarit Bou Karim, 47, did not know she was bidding them her last farewell.
On her visit to Lebanon, she spent one month in her hometown in Batroun in the North, laughing and enjoying her time with her friends and dear ones.
Today, Chekka is incensed and mourning, after Margarit fell victim of domestic violence and the morbid pathological jealousy of her husband, George Tannous.
The husband is a native of Dar Baashtar in Akkar. She met him while on a visit to Lebanon. He then accompanied her back to Sydney in Australia, where they founded a family. The couple had two children, Elie (19 years old) and Therese (17 years old).
It all started when George started to spy on his wife and annoy her at her workplace; and just shortly after she ended her Lebanon visit, he killed her.
"This is her destiny," say Karim, her cousin. "She traveled to Australia with her parents 30 years ago. She visited Lebanon every now and then, until she met her husband. They traveled again to Australia and not before long, problems started between them. It is in this tense, sad atmosphere that she and her children lived."
When she last came to Lebanon, she opened her heart to Karim and told him all about her tribulations at home. She recounted to him her husband's excessive jealousy. She had even called the police many times!
Margarit worked for several years at the Australian Foreign Ministry, then started her own successful business.
Karim continues, "As if she felt that she was about to die...but she kept on her sacrifice for the sake of her children."
Last Saturday, Margarit arrived in Sydney and a fight with her husband soon erupted. He killed her and then called her mother saying, "I don't know if you are going to be able to see your daughter alive." He subsequently called his son and told him to take care of his sister because he would not be coming back home. The husband escaped and then hand himself over to the police.
Margarit's body is still in the hands of the Australian authorities to complete official formalities allowing delivering the corpse to the family in Lebanon.
