25-year-old man charged with premeditated murder of sister in ‘honour crime’

AMMAN — The Criminal Court prosecutor on Wednesday charged a 25-year-old man with premeditated murder in connection with the stabbing death of his younger sister in Irbid earlier this week, a senior judicial source said.

The victim’s body was discovered by passers-by in an empty lot near a bus stop in Irbid, and they immediately alerted the authorities, the senior judicial source told The Jordan Times.

Police and investigators rushed to the scene and concluded that the woman was murdered and contacted her family, the judicial source said.

“Upon questioning the family, investigators concluded that a close family member was most probably the perpetrator since her parents said that she would often leave their home to unknown destinations,” the judicial source said.

Investigators zoomed in on one of the victim’s siblings and upon questioning him, he reportedly confessed to “stabbing his sister to death to cleanse his family’s honour”.

In his initial testimony to investigators, the suspect claimed that his sister “left the house on the day of the incident to an unknown place”.

Hours later, the source, who is close to the investigations, added: “The suspect claimed that someone informed his family that his sister was seen at the Irbid bus station”.

The suspect claimed that he grabbed a kitchen knife and rushed to the bus station and the minute he saw his sister he engaged in a “heated argument” with her, according to the judicial source.

“The suspect pulled out the kitchen knife and stabbed his sister five times on different parts of her body,” the judicial source added.

The suspect was ordered detained by the Criminal Court prosecutor for 15 days at a correctional and rehabilitation centre pending further investigations.

“We have summoned the victim’s family for more questioning so that we learn more about the victim and the circumstances that led to her murder,” the judicial source said.