The woman who survived being stabbed by her father in a June 2021 attack that killed her mother began her testimony at his trial Thursday, and described a pattern of domestic violence dating back nearly 15 years.

Hamid Ayoub, 63, is accused of first-degree murder in the stabbing death of Hanadi Mohamed, 50, and the attempted murder of his daughter, who was then 22 and is now 26, in Ottawa’s Superior Court. He has pleaded not guilty.

(In his arraignment at the beginning of the week, Ayoub pleaded guilty to lesser charges of second-degree murder and aggravated assault, which the Crown rejected.)

CBC News has agreed not to name the daughter. She continues to heal mentally and physically, and worries being named in media coverage will harm her mental health.

Crown prosecutor Louise Tansey opened chief examination Thursday morning with questions about the family’s history The survivor, her little brother and Mohamed had moved to Canada from Sudan in 2007 to join Ayoub, who had already arrived.

The violence in Canada started that same year, when the woman was nine and her brother was seven, she told court. By then, she had seen Ayoub hitting Mohamed several times.

She never called him father or dad in her testimony; only “the accused.”

The trial, which is scheduled for five weeks, is happening in Ottawa’s Superior Court before a judge and jury of nine women and three men. (Matthew Kupfer/CBC)

A pattern of abuse

Mohamed fled with her children to a shelter after the 2007 abuse. But then the couple reconciled and moved back in together; a pattern that ended up playing out again and again.

“In the beginning things were OK, and eventually things would just start again.… The abuse,” the daughter said.

In Muslim culture divorce is frowned upon, she said. Family, friends and supporters would listen about what was going on, but in the end they would “push the women or the family to just stay together regardless of what’s happening.”

Her family experienced the same pressure, she said.

Abuse occurred again in 2009. In 2012, Ottawa police were called after the children heard hitting sounds followed by Hanadi screaming to the children for help, she testified. Police interviewed everyone, then left.

“They didn’t do what they needed to do because at the end they just left and nothing changed. Everyone was still in the house after that,” the daughter testified.

It happened again in 2013, before a family trip to Sudan. This time, when Mohamed screamed to the children for help, they ran downstairs and saw their father standing behind her, holding a knife to her throat.

He said, “I’m going to kill you” in Arabic, the daughter testified.

Her testimony continues.