Tiba Ali's Death: Dozens Protest 'Honor Killing' Of Iraqi YouTuber Murdered By Her Dad

Protestors in Iraq came out in dozens to express outrage over the so-called "honor killing" of a 22-year-old YouTube star, Tiba Ali, and to demand legal reforms to protect women from gender-based violence.

The protestors gathered at a road leading to the country's Supreme Judicial Council on Sunday after security forces prevented them from demonstrating outside the building, Sky News reported.

"Stop killing women," read one placard held by the protesters while another said, "Tiba's killer must be held to account."

"There is no honor in the crime of killing women," read another.

The YouTuber was allegedly strangled to death by her father in the city of Diwaniyah on Jan. 31. Ali, who had moved to Turkey to study, stayed back and used to document her life in the country for her 20,000 YouTube subscribers. In one of her videos, she said she enjoyed living in Turkey and that she was planning to marry her Syrian-born boyfriend, who was a real estate investor.

However, her father was not supportive of this. During Ali's recent visit to Iraq, she had a heated argument with her father the day before she was murdered, Iraq's Interior Ministry spokesman Saad Maan said in a statement Friday.

Unverified voice recordings from a conversation between Ali and her father surfaced online in the wake of her death. The audio, shared by the Iraqi nonprofit Support Her Organization for Women's Rights, reportedly captured the conversation Ali had with her parents about not returning to Iraq after her brother sexually assaulted her. The voice note ends abruptly with her screaming in pain as her father allegedly hits her and yells at her.

Her father later turned himself in to the police and confessed to his daughter's murder.

"Tiba was killed by her father under tribal justifications that are unacceptable," Rosa al-Hamid, an activist with civil society group the Organization for Women's Freedom in Iraq, told AP News.

Israa al-Salman, another protester, wants to see Ali's father executed. "Anyone who wants to get rid of a woman accuses her of disgracing her dignity and kills her," Al-Salman told the outlet

There is currently no law that criminalizes domestic violence in Iraq. A draft law against domestic violence was presented in the nation's parliament in 2014. However, legislators opposed it as they believed it would "erode Iraq's social fabric." The draft saw no progress after that.

Husbands are also allowed to "discipline" and beat up their wives as per Article 41 of the country's penal code. Men who kill or permanently impair their wives or female family members because of adultery will also see their murder sentences reduced to a three-year prison sentence under Article 409.

Protesters on Sunday demanded legislative reform and strict action against men who subject their female relatives to violence.

Violence against women and girls in the country will continue until "Iraqi authorities adopt robust legislation to protect women and girls from gender-based violence," said Aya Majzoub, Amnesty International's deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa.