Honor and Tragedy

0:06It was a bright sunny day. It didn't seem like anything could possibly go wrong and the day was shattered. I heard just the sound of an engine speeding up. I heard a thud. There was a teenage girl, and she was face down in the dirt. Her shoes had been knocked off. And then I saw his car zoom by, and he just pulled out of that parking lot. Fire department, what's the address? I'm standing at 8990 West Peoria Avenue in the parking lot. My heart was beating a million miles a minute. I just I remember lots of yelling and screaming. Somebody got ran over here. I hit the ground on my hands and knees.

1:02She was completely unresponsive. Brushed her hair behind her ear and held her hands. She was just a normal teenage girl, just beautiful. So I'm trying to talk to her like you're going to be okay, honey. It's going to be okay. And I was so afraid that it wasn't going to be. Is the vehicle still there that hit her? No, it took off. And there's another person that just collapsed. The other lady that was hit, she was crying and screaming. Within about 20 to 30 minutes, we had a pretty good idea that this was not just a hit and run. The younger of the two women was identified as Noor Al-Maleki. The other woman was identified as Amal Khalaf.

1:47Amal was able to provide a name of the individual that was actually driving the vehicle. She recognized him. She says it's Noor Al-Maleki's father. We learned there had been a longstanding conflict between Noor and Falah, and that Falah was not happy with the way Noor was living her life. And I think she knew that at some point a showdown was going to happen. When he saw Amal and Noor walking across the park and opportunity knocked. He opened that door and ran a 4 ,000-pound vehicle right through it. This wasn't a whodunit. It never was. The mystery is why, why this had happened, and what would possess a father to do something like this to his daughter.

2:35A family's honor, tonight's 48 Hours Mystery.

2:56When I found out Noor was in an accident, I was so shocked. I didn't want to believe it. Is this true? Is my friend really hurt? Why would something like this happen to Noor? The horrifying news that Noor Amaliki had been run over by her own father spread quickly among her friends. I didn't believe it. at first, and when I found out exactly what had happened, and it was just really heartbreaking. The 20-year-old college student was in a coma, fighting for her life. You know, Noor's condition was very critical. She suffered multiple vertebrae fractures, an ankle fracture, severe closed head injury, and multiple soft tissue injuries, from head to toe, basically.

3:43Noor's friend, Amal Khulaf, had been thrown 27 feet, fracturing her pelvis and femur, but miraculously survived. This is a serious crime. Two people were severely injured and it was an intentional act. That's a big deal. But the man suspected of running them over, Noor's father, had vanished. So on October 20, 2009, Peoria, Arizona police detective Chris Bowie launched a manhunt. When you're moving on a case, you don't have a whole lot of time to reflect. We've got a bad guy that's on the list. We need to catch him. He also tried to figure out the motive. We know that something happened. Was it anger?

4:20Was it frustration? Was it greed? Why would a father do this to a daughter? Those questions also intrigued journalist and CBS News consultant Abigail Pesta. What kind of girl was she? Noor was an all-American teenage girl. She called her friends dude. At school she played tennis on the tennis team. She worked on the yearbook. Pesta wrote about Noor for Marie Claire magazine. Her friends told me her hair was always perfect. She could always be counted on to have a bottle of hairspray handy. Like most teens, Noor loved shopping and hanging out with her friends, female and male. She was also passionate about school and dreamed of being a teacher.

5:04She was somebody that wanted to get an education. She was somebody that wanted to be somebody, to do something with her life. Noor was just four when her family fled Iraq and Saddam Hussein. They eventually settled in the Phoenix suburbs, home to a large Arab community. She had a foot in two worlds. She had one foot in suburban America and one foot in Middle Eastern tradition. That's Noor in white, modeling at a local Middle Eastern event. Did she struggle with trying to straddle both of those cultures? Absolutely. You know, in public, she just tried to put on a brave face. She just tried to live her life and enjoy the freedoms that America offered her.

5:48In private, she fought with her father all the time. At home, Noor was supposed to obey her parents. It was her job to cook, clean, and help take care of her six younger siblings. And if she didn't, she would be beaten. Noor told her friend Adi that her father disapproved of everything she did, from the way she dressed to her choice of friends. You can't tell your child, you know, today in America, oh, you can't hang out with boys. No, you can't go outside looking like that. In her home, it was just like tons and tons of rules. Noor's father became enraged when he saw a photo of her with some male friends on the Internet.

6:28And he just thought that was a really bad thing for his daughter to do, for a Muslim daughter to do. And he just thought she was a slut. But Chris Bowie calls those photos typical of most teens. Nothing salacious, nothing risque, nothing out of the ordinary. Young people posing for a photograph. When he saw that she was kind of going, you know, her own way, you know, they kind of went nuts. But the independent Knorr refused to be controlled. She moved in, moved out, moved in, moved out, living with different friends. No matter where she went, her parents would track her down. It was almost a constant attempt to get her back in that house.

7:16Sometimes, Noor stayed here with Amal, who was also from Iraq and an old family friend. Amal's son, Marwan, says his mother and Noor had developed a special relationship. They were more than best friends, more than a mom to a daughter. She really loved Noor. In June 2009, after another blow up with her parents, Noor moved in with Amal's family. How did that affect the relationship between your family and hers? Well, her dad wasn't happy with it. Annie became furious when Noor fell in love with Marwan. He saw that as just a real smack in the face. Noor, in his mind, wasn't supposed to be dating anyone.

7:58Did she fear for her safety? She feared that something was really going to happen to her. Four months later, Noor was clinging to life, unconscious and unable to breathe on her own. But for investigators, there was a break in the case. After a week on the run, Noor's father was captured in England. The same day we received the information that he was in London, we recovered the vehicle in Nogales on the Mexican side of the border. So that was a big day for us. Fala Amaliki was brought back to the United States and charged with aggravated assault. But everything changed on November 2, 2009, when Noor died from her injuries.

8:43I wish it would have happened to me instead of her. Do you think of her? All the time. I miss her. I wish we spent more time together.

8:58Losing her wasn't just like losing a friend, but someone just taking like a huge chunk out of your life. Because there's so much she wanted to do, and she couldn't. Six weeks after Noor's death, her father was charged with her murder. You believe this was a calculated and pre-meditated act? I did. Not an accident? There's no accident. There's no accident.

9:29He felt like it was his duty to do this, to restore his honor, restore his family's honor. This isn't an isolated incident as we know now. It's happened around the world, and now here we are in the United States. This is a really big problem.

10:10When you think of a classic crime scene, and you think about blood and guns and wealth of evidence at a crime scene, this one didn't have it. With the death of Noor Amaliki, Detective Chris Bowie had a homicide investigation on his hands. We're in a parking lot where you have one tree that's knocked over, you've got some gravel that's disrupted, you've got a critical speed scuff mark on the asphalt. This is what we had, and we went from there. Noor's father claimed his daughter's death was an accident, but Bowie was convinced he had enough evidence to prove it was cold-blooded murder. For one thing, this tire mark, which we enhance in this crime scene photo.

10:51Bowie says it was made when Noor's father aimed his SUV at the women. To hit the two victims, the defendant had to have turned his vehicle to the left at speed. There's no other reason why anybody would do that other than to attempt to hit something. When mechanics inspected the vehicle, they found... There's no problems with the brakes or the accelerator or anything like that. In fact, Bowie says, tests on the brakes showed Fala could have stopped before barreling into his daughter and Amal at almost 30 miles per hour. So what are we looking at, sir? This is the hood of the vehicle that Fala was driving the day of the incident.

11:29There was damage to the hood. There was an impact right in this area of the top of the hood. And grill. This would be the area of impact here and here. That match where the vehicle hit the victims. Noor would have been directly in front of when the front of the vehicle struck her. And when investigators checked the undercarriage... We recovered a human hair. It was Noor's. Bowie says the evidence clearly shows what happened that October morning. He was hunting that day and he found what he wanted and he took him out. Amal and Noor had come to this building to fill out some forms for social services.

12:09While they were waiting, Noor's father appeared. Nor sees him, texts her friends. She wrote, dude, so scary. I'm with my aunt at the welfare place and guess who walks in? My dad. I'm so shaky. Was it coincidental that he happened to be in the same DES building that Nor and Amal were on that day? There's a chance that that was a coincidence. He makes a conscious decision to leave, drives away. But phone records show he didn't go far. I mean, we think he was waiting here. When Noor and Amal finished their business, they walked across this parking lot. Where those cutouts are positioned is roughly where we believe Amal and Noor were as the vehicle approached.

12:55Detective Bowie demonstrated for 48 hours what investigators believe happened next. He leaves this location, rapidly accelerates, makes a steering input into our two victims. Amal was hit roughly in this location and thrown approximately 20 feet. Falak continued his left-hand turn and aimed the front of the vehicle directly at Noor, who was on the raised median area here. The entire vehicle rolled over the top of her and drug her significantly to the south, where she finally ended up behind the second tree. He didn't stop. He didn't call 911. He didn't say, oh my God, it's an accident. He drives off.

13:42Drives off. Leaves her there for dead. Even more shocking than the callousness of the crime is what investigators believe is the motive. In certain traditions, in certain cultures, if a father believes that a female has acted in a dishonorable or disrespectful way to bring dishonor to the family, to bring dishonor to the community, that the only way to restore that honor is to kill him. It's called an honor killing, which Bowie learned is a premeditated murder to preserve family honor. When we had this case, I said, you know what? I think we have one here. But what had Noor done to bring dishonor to her family?

14:28Bowie learned one of the things was those internet photos of Noor with male friends. Her father was so outraged, he took the then 17-year-old high school senior back to Iraq and forced her to marry a family friend. Her mom and dad left her there, and she was there alone. She was really scared. She was really mad. Noor told her friend Adi her parents wouldn't let her come home unless she went through with this forced marriage. After you get married to him, you have to bring him back here, and you have to settle down with him. That was their conditions. And she said no at first. And then she said, okay, you know what?

15:02she just gave in. Adi says she got married. What may be most surprising is Noor's story is not unique.

15:13Troy Roberts:It definitely is a reality. There has been a survey that in the States, over the past two years, there have been 3 ,000 cases of forced marriage. I understand you want to leave. Jasvinder Sanghera founded Karma Nirvana in Great Britain to help victims of forced marriages and honor-based violence. We are dealing with the tip of the iceberg. Jasvinder says these forced marriages are imposed by parents who want to control their defiant daughters. And the word I use, because this is the word the victims use on the helpline, it was designed to rehabilitate me, to get these ideas up my head of wanting to embrace independence and freedom and be westernized.

15:57Troy Roberts:Good afternoon, calm, Nirvana, help. And if they resist... So the honor stakes go up. One never knows what a family is capable of. When Noor returned to the United States without the husband her parents chose for her, the clashes with her family escalated. Did Fala ever say to Noor, you have brought dishonor to our family? Yes, he did. Her returning from Iraq and not wanting to be in the arranged marriage was a huge dishonor. The fact that she was now dating Amal's son, Marwan, I think was a big factor. And I think just the overall lack of control that he had over a young lady that was trying to make something of herself.

16:42Just three months before Nora was murdered, her parents showed up at Amal's house looking for their daughter. I believe 1230 or 1 o 'clock in the morning, pounding on the door, demanding they open the door demanding that Noor come with them. Police were called. Noor's father was belligerent. He can put me in jail for the rest of my life. But I'm tired of having my daughter dishonor me by living with his family. Her parents didn't let up. According to Marwan, just 48 hours before his girlfriend was mowed down, Noor's mother again ordered her home. And again, Noor refused. That's when her mom told you, you know what, you have something coming to you in two days.

17:26Did Noor think she was marked for death? Did she believe that a family member was going to kill her? She never directly knew that, but she felt something really bad was going to happen. Do you believe Noor's mother knew that she would be harmed? Yes, I do believe that. Do I have 100 % proof? No. Noor had nowhere to turn for help. But if she'd been living in England, Jasminar Sangara says she could have found refuge.

17:56Troy Roberts:I can tell you with conviction had Noor come to us, she would be alive today. Alive, just like Lena. She also survived honor violence and knows exactly what Noor went through. And my mom held a knife against my throat. And she said, if you ever leave again, we're going to kill you.

18:31Noor never had a chance to live her life. She never had an opportunity to graduate from college, to get a job, to be married, to have children. That's the tragedy here. For Detective Chris Bowie, getting justice for Noor Amaliki in what he believes was an honor killing became a personal mission. What was the greatest challenge in investigating this case? Wrapping your mind around an individual that thinks that honor is more important than the love of your child. It's an unimaginable concept for most Americans, but some cultures believe that murdering a child to restore family honor is justifiable.

19:14And Bowie believes that's what Noor's father did when he mowed her down, even acknowledging his motive, Bowie says, in this police interview.

19:33You've got to put that small fire out, the rest of the house is going to burn down. Noor is a small fire. I think this was a collective decision that was made. and him being the father and the patriarch of the family, it was up to him to carry it out, and he did. Fresh developments in an alleged case of honor killing involving a young journalist. Although most common in the Middle East, South Asia, and North Africa, honor violence is increasingly occurring in Europe, Canada, and now the United States. If it can happen in Peoria, Arizona, it can happen anywhere. Do I think there's a lot of other noralmalekis out there?

20:12Yes, I did. And the statistics are startling. According to the United Nations, an estimated 5 ,000 women worldwide are murdered each year in the name of honor.

20:25Troy Roberts:I believe there are many more murders that we haven't identified as honor killings out there. Although the majority of victims are Muslim, Jasvinder Sanghara, author and survivor, insists honor violence is not sanctioned by any religion. Nowhere in Islam, Sikhism or Hinduism, in any of the major faiths, does it say this is acceptable. Honor is man-made. It's an oppressive cultural practice. Jasvinder was born in Great Britain, the daughter of Sikhs from India. My father came to Britain in 1952 from rural Punjab. And he didn't leave his belief and value systems at Heathrow Airport. He brought them with him.

21:13Growing up, Jasvinder and her siblings learned a code of conduct from their parents.

21:19Troy Roberts:You must not talk to boys, you must not wear makeup, you must not cut your hair, you stick to your own. That's what we were taught. And if you cross that line, you have dishonored them, and then you put yourself at risk. Jazz Venter crossed that line when she was 15. After running away to avoid a forced marriage, her family ostracized her. You've shamed us, you've dishonored us. From this day forward, you are now dead in our eyes. That decision I made then was for my children in the future. And that for me is the defining point where I think, yes, you did the right thing. Jasvinder survived and flourished, but her older sister Robina wasn't so fortunate.

22:06Troy Roberts:She suffered horrific domestic violence. Jasvinder says Robina was told she would dishonor the family if she left her abusive husband. So in the end, my sister committed suicide. she set herself on fire. And my family regarded that to be more honourable than for her to leave her husband. If she's been brave enough to tell you that, she's at risk of being married. That inspired Jas Vinder to start an organisation to help victims of honour violence, and a helpline that now receives some 450 calls a month. That's a drop in the ocean. There are thousands we have yet to reach, but it's a start. One of those callers was a desperate 17-year-old, now known as Lena.

22:49I remember I was so scared. I was literally shaking. My hands were shaking. Two years earlier, she had tried to run away. Her dishonored family was furious. My mom, when she held the knife to my throat, she threatened to cut my tongue off. And then she said, oh, if you don't listen to your stepfather, he'll rape you. It was after the British-born teen refused to marry an older cousin that she was pulled out of school and held captive by her strict Muslim parents. Lena had been locked in her home for nearly two years.

23:22Troy Roberts:Her stepfather had gone to the extreme of putting barbed wire all around the back of the house so she couldn't escape. Lena says she was regularly beaten for being too westernized. I used to go into the bathroom and put the taps on and cry my eyes out because I didn't want anyone to hear me and I used to just look in the mirror and I used to be like, how long is this going to carry on for? She finally got the courage to end her ordeal after reading about Jasvinder Sanghera's helpline, but it would take a year to make that call. I couldn't handle it anymore. I would have rather been dead than stay in that house.

23:57With Jasvinder on the phone and a set of keys she found, Lena made her escape. I thought, you know, this is my chance.

24:06Troy Roberts:If I don't do it now, then that's it. She literally fled out the back door, petrified. I could hear the fear in her voice, and it was as if I was with her on every single step. I was very scared, like, you're running for your life, basically. Lena would find a safe haven with Jasvinder's help, and a few weeks later, the two met. And there was this girl walking towards me. She must have been 6 '2". She had these big high heels on, very tight jeans on, lots of makeup on, her hair was everywhere, and it was snowing. And I just looked at her, smiled, and I said, why are you wearing those heels? And she just looked me direct in the eye and she went, because I can.