Lebanese woman Myriam al-Ashqar, 28, was found dead and soaked in blood Tuesday in a forestland located between the Keserwan towns of Sahel Alma and Harisa, LBC television reported.
It later appeared that she was killed by the janitor of the Our Lady of the Annunciation monastery in Baqloush, where she went to pray on Monday and where she used to pray several times every other week, LBC said.[Naharnet]
That’s the first time I hear about such a terrible crime in the Keserwan area and more specifically in a monastery. My condolences to Myriam’s family and fiance and hope she rests in peace.
PS: I hope those in charge of monasteries will start hiring people more responsibly from now on following this incident. I also don’t see the need for a janitor in a monastery.
This is horrible, Rest in piece.
Myriam el Achkar rest in peace
The lebanese people don’t want to work in any place, only they want to look what we wear, which car we drive, when we go in which super night club, they let the syrian people to work in the church. why? we don’t have any woman or man that have 60 or 65 years old to work in this church ? people wake up ,wake up,wake up.This is horrible ,from 50 years ago the problem was from syrian ,
they need to eat ,they need to make a crime,especially now,in this crisis.I pray to her , I think tis man is sick and in my opinion we must kill him , not put him in jail of roumieh ya hamir.
hiiii,,, you are telling wake up…for sleeping peaple.kill wahad baddo naffsso bass …ma hadan bifakkir illa bihallo…..pity moujtamaaa fessiddd..walla alla bissalhhho
what happened to the criminal? the poor girl’s life can not be given back to her, but before hiring a new person, what happens to that man is essential to know and share, first as self education, second to show other criminals that matters like that are dealt with carefully.
He’ll probably be hung
he should be, so other potential criminals can see what would their future be if they ever do what that animal did.
Death Penalty is not a proven prevention to future crimes. usually, they are comitted in moments of anger, sexual excitement, under some drug effect, impulsively. Hence, the consequences of killing someone arent really calculated: therefore your argument doesnt stand whatsoever! Moreover a study has proven that the crime rate in country where death penalty is legalized are higher.
Last but not least, death penalty is as old as anyone can remember: do you think it was a good example so far? If so, it would have taken one example for all the crimes to stop.
Overusing words like “hence” and “moreover” doesn’t make your argument any smarter either..
Wow! Ignoring that your mastery of the English language is so complete…What on earth are you talking about;”usually, they are comitted in moments of anger, sexual excitement, under some drug effect, impulsively. Hence, the consequences of killing someone arent really calculate”.
Seriously? People are killed because others are horny? This janitor was following her; planned and raped and killing her. If that is not premeditated murder what is? People killing in a moment of anger? Then it’s ok that anyone shoot a slow moving, lane hogging driver.
I am not a proponent of death penalty but in some cases it is a must! Do you think that pedophiles or sexual deviant psychopaths can be rehabilitated?
Lakhayem
I would have LOVED if you were a bit more open minder in understanding other people’s posts!
I was def not justifying killing, however when people kill they do not calculate the consequences of their crime. I cant see that Janitor thinking “I am sexually aroused, most probably under some kind of drug, or I am complete psychopath who has no reason whatsoever, but hey! I shouldn’t kill because they will hang me upside down in front of everyone!!â€
Death penalty won’t affect those kind of murderers, because when they comit their crime they do not think about the consequences, they do it blindly!
Hence (and that’s for you Jack), a lifetime sentence in jail would be a better punishment: the murderer will suffer daily, and the victim’s of the family will wake up daily knowing he is there suffering the hell out of him.
So dudes, please think and try to understand before jumping into any immature conclusions and making worst by replying publicly.
Cheers
hope to see how mature u r when it’s your little sister
What if it were your sis or mom miss Najla?
I would have wanted him to spend his whole life in prison, suffering. I wouldn’t want to be a criminal like him. Simply
Hang the SOB!
Myriam is a relative and from my town. For those who don’t favor the death penalty, you have no fricking clue what the family is going through.
Besides, that Syrian SOB has no morals or respect for the Christian faith (he’s a muslim).
Hang his ass in front of St. Nohra church in the main Sahel Alma square and I guarantee you no other Syrian SOB will ever think about touching any of our kids.
Rest in peace Myriam.
Bonjour Tony
Une pensée affectueuse à tous les membres de la famille de Myriam et particulièrement ses parents , frères et soeurs.
Un homme en France a tué ma compagne Isabelle 22 ans et notre fils de 18 mois dans des circonstances horribles !
Alors je comprends votre peine et votre douleur !
J’ai une grande Foi et donc une grande Espérance
Est il possible de se recueillir devant la tombe de Myriam ?
Pourriez vous me donner la localité ou elle est inhumée ?
L’ âme est immatérielle , spirituelle donc éternelle !
Myriam est au Paradis avec Maria Goretti
Je viens au Liban en septembre
Mon adresse email : fournival.eric@live.fr
En communion avec vous !
Tony,
No matter how upset the Lebanese public is by this, we all know your family and you are going through so much. Its hard for so many different reasons. Arguments regarding the death penalty are usually easier to argue against when you aren’t the one going through the hell of dealing with someone you love’s death but at the end of the day the death penalty has proven a few things: 1) to be in prison might cause more suffering to the person who committed the crime and 2) it does not decrease crime. Also, please don’t bring religion into this- I mean I knew this might come up but it really has nothing to do with it. He’s just a bad person for whatever reason. He could’ve killed a Muslim girl too. All Lebanese are sad for Myriam and we pray she RIP and that her family both direct and extended find the peace and comfort they need in knowing that the criminal is caught and that Myriam is now in a better place.
Miriam and Najla, i wish people were more like you ladies. I agree with you, fully.
Tony, may she rest in peace! We are all sorry for the loss, i know at the end of the day its easier said than done, but we all have lost a dear person and knows how it feels, we try to relate as much as possible, and send the family the warmest wishes. the death penalty is not a major discussion now (im against it of course) however please do not make it a religious crime (muslim and christian faith do meet you know?), angel miriam wouldnt want her death to be discussed this way.
May she rest in peace!
To all those who commented on my reply, I respect your opinions. You have your position and I have mine. This is what democracy is all about.
That filthy Syrian ought to be hanged so all those who are like him coming from Syria without any background check know that their fate is death if they ever think about touching any of our kids.
I took the same route as Myriam did last summer with my young daughter to teach her the values of prayer and connection to our land and this could have happened to us. We will not turn the other cheek anymore. Those days are over.
Knowing that this SOB will die the same way he killed his innocent victim, guarantees that he will never ever show his ugly face on our streets and terrorize our innocent citizens. Check the records in the USA and specifically in Texas, crimes have dropped dramatically when lethal injection was put in place as a form of punishment.
As far as religion is concerned, I have to bring up this subject out in the open. I have friends from all faiths and I do not discriminate between muslims, christians, jews or budhists. We are all children of one God at the end of the day. However, I have a problem with a person from a different faith, committing a hineous crime on sacred christian grounds. A christian will not commit rape and murder on the steps of a monastery. It is unthinkable!
If this disgusting act ever happened at a mosque by a christian anywhere in the world, let us face it, you would have riots as far as Pakistan. There ought to be respect by all faiths for one another and red lines that need not be crossed.
I do not care at the end of the day what faith the killer belongs to. We will bring justice to a corrupt land whose people yearn for justice, when laws do not protect its own citizens.
Regards to all
“However, I have a problem with a person from a different faith, committing a hineous crime on sacred christian grounds” Would you have hated him a bit less was the criminal a Christian? Would his disgusting act have been justified (more or less) in case he was a Maronite? an Orthodox? Maybe a Catholic?
Najla,
Read the entire comment before you start cherry picking and showing your true face of religious racism here. Did you read the comment that says:
‘I do not care at the end of the day what faith the killer belongs to. We will bring justice to a corrupt land whose people yearn for justice, when laws do not protect its own citizens’.
Save your useless arguments for the killer, I don’t need your BS in our family’s time of grief.
At the end of the day, a psychopath is a psychopath whatever his background.
On Death Penalty, it has never been shown to truly decrease crime rate (in fact it appears to have made crimes more violent since people know there is no return). Someone mentioned Texas as an example of a successful application. But well dunno (http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/murder-rates-nationally-and-state) shows a reduction there over the last few years(thinking that it was applied 40 years ago) but it still stands above a state like NY who has an image of being a violent city.
“What is A Psychopath?
Psychopaths cannot be understood in terms of antisocial rearing or development. They are simply morally depraved individuals who represent the “monsters” in our society. They are unstoppable and untreatable predators whose violence is planned, purposeful and emotionless. The violence continues until it reaches a plateau at age 50 or so, then tapers off. ”
Unstoppable and untreatible. There you have it! We have the right as the victim’s family to demand the proper form of justice. God forbid, if the victim was your own sister, mother, wife or daughter and she had to endure this type of inexplicable suffering, I am certain that your views will not be quite the same as they are today. We have a saying in Lebanese : illi byekol il 3osi, mish mitl illi bi 3idda.
We already have the murderer’s confessions. He was watching Myriam’s every move, and his murder was calculated, cold blooded, pre-meditated and executed without one ounce of remorse.
He shall be killed in the same way as a lesson to other filthy Syrians like him. End of story!
Key word here is individuals.
My comment is simply against the generalization done by adding religion/nationality into the mix.
Also don’t get me wrong what was committed is unacceptable and justice should be done. And i can’t put myself in your shoes since I didn’t experience such a tragedy.
Yet, I don’t believe into an eye for an eye blind justice. We’re better than that.
i totally agree with tony !!!!!!!!
And may myriam’s soul rest in peace ..
i think this man(if we should say so) is to be raped and tortured for the rest of his life.. If u kill him, nothing will be gained….
Yet, this issue should not be taking a religious aspect, as a killer has no religion whatsoever,whether he was a muslim,christian,or jewish… In lebanese we say: 3aib hal 7ake!!
May god bless her innocent soul
Oh my god????? What’s wrong with you people????? He has to DIE that’s It .
You want to kill him?
How does that make you less of a psychopath ?
This guy has to be punished and hanged!!! but mentioning that he is muslim doesnt add anything!!! it just shows that some people are racist and uneducated!!!
the two serial killers that were caught recently were christians! did anyone mention that!!!????
so stop saying that a muslim killed a christian and all this BS…
he killed her coz he a Psychopath!!!!!
This is a very sad story. It makes you think where is God? Shouldn’t he protect this decent woman from this awful fate?
Where is common sense? A syrian as the natour of a church? Churchgoers and priests can be so naive sometimes. A girl taking a walk in the bush by herself as if the church as a building will protect her. Nobody questioned the insanity of employing a single Syrian non-christian man and giving him a shelter under the church. So pathetic?
Permettez moi de vous repondre en francais. C’est horrible, ca me revolte. Pour certains qui ont dits dans leur post qu’ils peuvent comprendre le sentiments des proches de myriam je leur reponds :’ est ce que votre fille, soeur ou cousine a ete violee et jetee?”. Je suppose que non. Donc personne peut imaginer la tristesse et la noirceur dans le quotidien de la famille de Myriam.
Autre chose, bien entendu il ne faut pas rentrer dans “chretien/musulman”, c est deja assez triste comme ca. Oui c’est un malade mental et ca n’a rien a voir avec ses croyances. Mais oui je suis d’accord avec Toni, je me demande vraiment si c etait un chretien qui a viole et tue une femme sortant de la mosquee dans une region pure musulmane, dites moi juste comment ca aurait ete interpretee??
Et franchement quelle HONTE, l’eglise catholique maronite n’a pas assez d’argent pour engager une famille pauvre (et y en a au liban!!) en tant que natour! Walawww. Ils cherchent a economiser de l’argent en faisant rentrer n’importe qui dans le coeur de keserwen.
Ecoute najla, je comprends ton cote “peace”. Mais je me demande si tu as une fille. Je suis une maman d’une fille de 2 ans, et depuis cet horrible meurtre a chaque fois je l’endors je prie encore plus qu’avant et pour une minute je m’imaginais a la place de le mere de myriam, crois moi non seulement j’aurais ete capable de le voir pendu, j’aurais voulu le torturer et le couper en morceaux. C’est pas tres chretien de ma part mais la c’est troppppp. Ca depasse les limites.
Un terrible choc, que son ame repose en paix. C’est pas juste. Parfois on nepeut pas comprendre la sagesse divine. Que Dieu donne la patience a ses proches surtout ses parents.
Rien ne pourra ramener myriam a ses parents, et je suis pas fan de la loi de pendre un homme mais je crois qu”I’ll faut absolument pendre cette salete, sinon un jour ils trouveront un moyen de le sortir de prisons. Pourquoi vous oublier quand ils ont laisse sortir des terroristes qui ont tue les plus nobles de nos officiers de l’armee??
Alla yerhama w ysaber aleb ehla.
I was reading some of the comments and i seriously could not go on, the only one thing i felt was sadness and shame, shame on u all of u. Ya 3aybishoum. The innocent woman was killed and all you were talking about is hayda masee7i w hayda mislim!!! A muslim man would kill in a mosque and a christian man would kill in a church; a killer simply knows no religion. Ya 3aybishoum. I dont know the lady, but the same thing had happened in saida few days ago, we are lost and confused whether we should kill this murderer or send him to jail, but neither this nor that nothing can bring them back and nothing will make their families feel any good. The one thing iam sure about is that they are in a better place.
yesssssslammmm timmmmmmak