Man charged with murder in 'honour killing' of daughter

(MENAFN – Jordan Times) Criminal Court Prosecutor Fawaz Ghreir on Tuesday charged a 60-year-old man with the premeditated murder of his divorced daughter a day earlier in an Amman suburb, sources close to the investigation said.

The suspect, a grocer, allegedly stabbed his 25-year-old daughter seven times at his home at 8:00am on Monday, according to a senior official, who asked not to be named.

The suspect then headed to the nearest police station, handed the officers on duty a knife and informed them that he had killed his daughter “to cleanse his family’s honour”, the source told The Jordan Times.

“The suspect told investigators that he murdered his daughter after learning from one of her sisters that she had delivered a baby girl out of wedlock two weeks ago.”

At the time, the child remained in an incubator at a hospital, he said.

Quoting initial questioning of the suspect, the source added that the victim was divorced two years ago and returned to her father’s home to live with him.

“The suspect claimed that his daughter had started a relationship with a neighbour and become pregnant,” the source said.

The victim and her sisters kept “hiding her pregnancy from their father and claimed that her stomach was large because she was suffering medical problems due to the divorce and he believed their story”.

Two weeks before the murder, the source added, the defendant lost some money and accused the victim of stealing it.

“The victim denied the accusations and claimed that her 27-year-old sister had stolen the money,” he said.

Angered by the accusation, the elder daughter then informed their father of her sister’s illegitimate pregnancy.

On Monday morning, the suspect headed to his daughter’s room and stabbed her to death in front of her elder sister, who attempted to stop him, according to the source.

The sister then headed to the hospital, took the newborn baby from the incubator section, dumped it near a highway and called the police to tell them that a baby was discarded near that area, a second source told The Jordan Times.

The criminal prosecutor is questioning the 27-year-old sister and the neighbour who was allegedly involved with the victim, the source said.

The victim is survived by seven sisters and a brother, who is in prison on drug-related charges, the source added.

The victim’s mother suffered a stroke after learning of her daughter’s murder and is currently in hospital in serious condition, a medical source told The Jordan Times.

MENA FN