20-year jail term for man who killed sister over ‘family honour’

AMMAN — The Criminal Court has sentenced a 53-year-old man to 20 years in prison after convicting him of murdering his younger sister over reasons related to family honour in the Jordan Valley in July 2017.

The court first handed the defendant the death penalty on Wednesday after convicting him of stabbing his 27-year-old sister to death while at her family’s home in South Shouneh on July 6.

However, the court decided to immediately reduce the sentence to 20 years in prison because the victim’s parents dropped the charges against their son, Judge Azzam Najdawi, one of the three justices hearing the case, said.

“We decided to give him the maximum punishment because he committed a heinous crime. This woman had the right to live regardless of any kind of alleged behaviours. Her brother had no right to kill her,” Najdawi told the Jordan Times.

Court documents said the victim went missing from her family’s house for over four years.

“The defendant had repeatedly pledged in front of many people that he would murder his sister the minute he saw her because she was living alone,” the court said.

On the day of the incident, the court maintained, the defendant claimed that he had just seen his sister who returned to her family’s house to visit her father who was in a wheelchair.  

“The minute the defendant saw his sibling, he drew a switchblade he was carrying and, without uttering a word, stabbed her multiple times on different parts of her body,” court papers said.

The victim was rushed to a nearby hospital, where she died the following day as a result of her multiple stab wounds, the court said.

The defendant fled the area after the stabbing incident and was apprehended a few days later by the police, the court added.

Criminal Court Prosecutor Issam Haddid asked the court to inflict the maximum punishment against the defendant. 

The tribunal also comprised judges Ibrahim Abu Shamma, and Hassan Majali. The verdict will automatically be reviewed by the Court of Cassation within the next 30 days.