Father charged with murder of daughter in ‘honour crime’

AMMAN — The Criminal Court prosecutor on Saturday charged a 57-year-old man with the premeditated murder of his daughter for reasons related to so-called family honour in one of the Kingdom's governorates last week, official sources said.

The 40-year-old victim was allegedly murdered by her father with a rock near her home on Thursday night, Police Spokesperson Col. Amer Sartawi said.

"We received a complaint that a father had attacked his daughter and when we arrived at the house we immediately arrested the father," Sartawi told The Jordan Times.

Meanwhile, a senior judicial source told The Jordan Times that the victim was engaged in "an illegitimate affair".

On Thursday night, the source maintained, "the victim and the father had an argument while at home".

"The victim tried to escape by jumping from the window and broke her leg and could not run away," the source added.

The victim's father reportedly ran after his daughter and "grabbed a rock and smashed her skull with it", according to the judicial source.

Director of the National Institute of Forensic Medicine Adnan Abbas told The Jordan Times that the victim died of "brain haemorrhage as a result of the crushed skull".

The suspect was ordered detained for 15 days by Criminal Court Prosecutor Baker Quraan at a correctional and rehabilitation centre pending further investigation, the judicial source added.

"Quraan is currently questioning the victim's family to determine if there are other family members involved in the incident," the judicial source said.

Meanwhile, women activists and social media users voiced their dismay over the incident and called on the government to introduce laws and adopt procedures that protect victims of domestic violence in Jordan.