German Woman Kills Lookalike Found on SNS... Disguises as Own Death

Local Prosecution: "Attempted to Disappear Due to Family Conflict"

A woman in her 20s in Germany is under investigation for allegedly murdering a person who resembled her in an attempt to fake her own death.

According to foreign media reports including the British Guardian and AFP on the 30th (local time), local authorities believe that Sharaban K (23), an Iraqi-German beautician, planned the crime last August to escape domestic conflicts.

She reportedly found a woman who resembled her through Instagram, murdered her, and planned to make it appear as if she herself had died.

The above photo is not directly related to the article content. [Image source=Pixabay]

According to investigators, Sharaban attempted to contact numerous women and succeeded in luring Kadija O (23), an Algerian beauty blogger, on the 16th of the same month by deceiving her with promises of cosmetics.

Together with her friend Shakir K, she took Kadija into her car and drove to a forest between Heilbronn and Ingolstadt, where she stabbed and killed her with a knife. The body was found by Sharaban’s parents in a parked car in a quiet residential area by the Ingolstadt riverside.

German police vehicle. [Photo by Yonhap News]

Local media reported that the victim was stabbed more than 50 times and her face was severely disfigured. The police initially identified the victim as Sharaban after confirmation from Sharaban’s family on the first day, but the true identity was revealed the next day through an autopsy report.

The victim, Kadija, had long black straight hair, dark skin, and heavy makeup, making her strikingly similar to Sharaban, according to the police. Sharaban and Shakir were arrested and questioned within days after the crime, but the motive for the murder remained unclear until recently.

An official from the Ingolstadt prosecutor’s office stated, "It is presumed that the suspect wanted to fake her own death in order to disappear due to family disputes."

Arrest warrants for Shakir and Sharaban were issued on the 26th and 27th, respectively. The prosecution plans to indict them after securing additional witness statements.