A 24-year-old Dutch woman, and mother of four children, has been shot dead by her husband in Iraq because she wanted to return to the Netherlands.

Safhinaz Zerrouy, who lived in Drachten in Friesland province, wanted to come home but her husband was against it, Zerrouy’s mother Dina Meijer told the Leeuwarder Courant newspaper.

‘He had her in his power for years. Safhinaz was a bright and cheerful girl. I think she went voluntarily to Iraq but she wanted to come back. Her husband would not accept that.’

Gun

The paper says Raffi A, 33, shot his wife with an automatic rifle and then fled but has since been picked up by local police.

A is an Iraqi Kurd who came to the Netherlands as a child and, according to some reports, has Dutch nationality. The foreign affairs ministry has confirmed he has been arrested.

According to broadcaster Nos, Safhinaz was buried on Tuesday and the children have gone to live with their father’s relatives. However, her Dutch family want the body repatriated and also say the children should be returned home.

Nightmare

Safhinaz’ mother is Dutch and father Moroccan and she has four older brothers. They all live in the Netherlands.

‘We’re broken by this,’ brother Najib Meijer told the AD. ‘We’ve been worried about our sister for years but this is a nightmare.’ A and Safhinaz met in Drachten and have been together for 10 years, the AD says.

It is unclear from the Dutch media reports when the couple and their children went to Iraq. The AD says mother Dina Meijer had not spoken to her daughter since 2010.