One morning in 2004, Lina was awakened by her little sister who shouted "mother is dead".

In a panic, Lina ran out to find her mother in a pool of blood.

Above the mother sat the stepfather with a knife in his hand.

Next to them sat Lina's two younger siblings, terrified and covered in blood.

Lina tried to help her mother by holding back the man, the mother ran out to the balcony and there Lina was left completely alone with a life-threatening man.

Chopped in the face and back

Lina was attacked and received several life-threatening stab wounds to the head, back and face.

She tried to hide and felt the warm blood running down her face.

The police were alerted and it took ten minutes for them to arrive.

During that time, Lina tried to lock out her stepfather and help her mother, who was lying bloody on the balcony.

The neighbors screamed and cried, says Lina who realized that she could lose her mother. 

Convicted of attempted murder

Both Lina and her mother survived, but the scars from the stabbing remain on the body.

The stepfather was convicted of attempted murder and according to the verdict, a partial motive for the incident was that the mother wanted to live a more independent and secularized life.

The violence was a big part of Lina's upbringing, her stepfather often abused her and her mother.

His only apology was that he was the man in the family and was therefore entitled to it.

He wasted all his money and the children often slept hungry, she says.

Lina is actually called something else.

See her story in the video above.