‘Honour-killing’ case referred to court

AMMAN – Criminal Prosecutor Ahmad Omari referred to the court the case of a 23-year-old man who reportedly stabbed his sister to death for reasons related to family honour in Marka in October 2007.

Omari charged the defendant with one count of premeditated murder and illegally possessing a knife.

“The case was referred to the Criminal Court and given a number. The trial date is slated for early next year,” a judicial source told The Jordan Times.

K. M. was charged with stabbing his 25-year-old married sister to death shortly after she was released from police custody to her father, the indictment said.

The victim left her husband’s home on October 14, the charge sheet said, adding that he filed a missing persons report.

The defendant became enraged over his sister’s disappearance. He got hold of a 20-centimetre knife and began looking for her so that he could kill her, the charge sheet said.
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On October 22, the police found the woman and contacted her father to take her from Marka Police Station, according to the charge sheet.

It made no mention about where the woman was found or where she had been during the week of her disappearance.

“The defendant took the knife and accompanied his father to the station,” the charge sheet said, adding that the father signed a JD5,000 guarantee that he would not harm his daughter and the three of them went home.

While the victim was walking towards the house, the defendant pulled out his knife and stabbed her 10 times in different parts of her body, the charge sheet said.

He then headed to the nearest police station and turned himself in, claiming to have killed his sister for reasons related to family honour.

What is an honour killing?

An honour killing is a murder in the name of honour. If a brother murders his sister to restore family honour, it is an honour killing. According to activists, the most common reasons for honour killings are as the victim:

Questions about honour killings

  • refuses to cooperate in an arranged marriage.

  • wants to end the relationship.

  • was the victim of rape or sexual assault.

  • was accused of having a sexual relationship outside of marriage.

Human rights activists believe that 100,000 honour killings are carried out every year, most of which are not reported to the authorities and some are even deliberately covered up by the authorities themselves, for example because the perpetrators are good friends with local policemen, officials or politicians. Violence against girls and women remains a serious problem in Pakistan, India, Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Iran, Serbia and Turkey.

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