This article's content is marked as Mature The page contains mature content that may include coarse language, sexual references, and/or graphic violent images which may be disturbing to some. Mature pages are recommended for those who are 18 years of age and older. If you are 18 years or older or are comfortable with graphic material, you are free to view this page. Otherwise, you should close this page and view another page. |
“ | She was a whore, like you! | „ |
~ Amir condemning his own deceased daughter while insulting Detective Olivia Benson. |
Saleh Amir (Persian: صالح امیر) is the main antagonist of the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episode "Honor". He is a religious zealot who manipulates his son Jaleel into performing an "honor killing" by murdering his own sister, Nafeesa.
He was portrayed by Marshall Manesh, who also portrayed Malik in Kazaam.
Biography[]
Saleh is an Afghani diplomat with unofficial ties to the Taliban who practices a warped, archaic form of Islam in which women have no rights and obey their husband's every command. He also believes that men have the right and God-given duty to murder "disobedient" and "immodest" wives and daughters in a practice known as honor killing. Saleh's father strangled his daughter, Saleh's sister, for having sex outside of marriage in full view of the rest of the family, especially Saleh's eight-year-old son, Jaleel.
Years later, Saleh became rich when he promised his daughter Nafeesa's hand in marriage to a Taliban government minister. He and his family - Jaleel, Nafeesa, and Saleh's wife Aziza - relocated to New York City, where Nafeesa went to college - against Saleh's wishes - to study journalism. She also fell in love with one of her classmates and made plans to run away with him.
When Saleh found out that she had defied him, and unknowingly endangered his newfound wealth and political connections, he called her a whore and beat her. When Jaleel begged him to stop, Saleh handed him a knife and ordered his son to kill Nafeesa to restore the family's honor and "prove his manhood". Desperate to please his father, Jaleel stabbed Nafeesa to death. Saleh and Jaleel then dumped Nafeesa's body in Central Park.
"Honor"[]
When Detectives Olivia Benson and Elliot Stabler of the NYPD's Special Victims Unit inform Saleh and Aziza of Nafeesa's death, Saleh proclaims that he does not care, as Nafeesa had "turned her back on her family" by defying him. Benson and Stabler initially suspect Nafeesa's boyfriend, but he insists that he is innocent, and that she had been terrified of her father.
Eventually, Benson and Stabler find out that Nafeesa's murder had been an honor killing committed by a family member, and suspect Jaleel. They demand to know where Jaleel is, but Saleh refuses to tell them, and is particularly disrespectful to Benson for daring to question a man's word.
Saleh had in fact put Jaleel on a plane back to Afghanistan, where Detectives John Munch and Fin Tutuola arrest him just as the flight is about to take off. Jaleel's lawyer pleads "cultural insanity," claiming that Jaleel's actions were the result of being brainwashed in an oppressive, misogynistic environment. Saleh and Aziza watch the trial every day from the gallery.
After talking with Benson and Stabler, Aziza, who is heartbroken over Nafeesa's death and knows that what her husband and son did was wrong, decides to testify in court about what really happened, which results in Jaleel being convicted. That night, Saleh strangles Aziza to death as punishment for defying him, and then flies back to Afghanistan, never to return.
External Links[]
- Saleh Amir on the Law & Order Wiki
[]
Villains | ||
Law & Order Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Law & Order: Criminal Intent Law & Order: LA Law & Order: Organized Crime Law & Order: Toronto Law & Order: UK Homicide: Life on the Street Chicago Fire Chicago: Med Chicago P.D. FBI FBI: Most Wanted FBI: International |