AMMAN (Jordan) - A JORDANIAN teenager has been charged with premeditated murder after he said he stabbed his sister to death because she frequently left home without permission, a judicial official said on Monday.
The unidentified 19-year-old 'turned himself in and confessed to killing his 22-year-old sister on Sunday because she frequently left her family's house without permission' in Sahab south of Amman, the official told AFP.
'The suspect, who was charged on Sunday night, stabbed the girl in different parts of her body, claiming he wanted to cleanse his family's honour although forensic tests proved that she was a virgin.'
Murder is punishable by the death penalty in Jordan, but in the case of so-called 'honour killings,' a court usually commutes or reduces sentences if the family of a victim drops charges against the killer.
Between 15 and 20 women are murdered every year in the kingdom in cases involving 'family honour.' Last year around 17 such killings were recorded.
Perpetrators often get relatively light sentences as lawmakers have refused to reform the penal code to ensure harsher punishment, despite demands by local and international human rights activists. -- AFP
