Brother killed pregnant sister in 'honour cleansing'

A Jordanian stabbed his pregnant sister to death, to “cleanse the family’s honour”, said an official.

The 25-year-old woman, whom police refused to identify, was killed by her brother, who slit her throat and inflicted 15 stabs to various parts of her body, said an official in the capital Amman.

It was the latest incident of “honour killings” – a practice not uncommon in traditional, male-dominated Arab societies, where women have been killed, mostly by brothers and fathers for having sex outside marriage, dating, simply talking to men or even for being raped.

The initial investigation showed the woman had married an Egyptian against her family’s wishes almost a year ago and had left for Egypt.

“When she returned to Jordan a few days ago to give birth to her child, her brother learned she was in town. He went to her home and killed her,” the official said.

The stabbing took place in the kitchen of the woman’s house. After the murder, the brother called police and waited for them to arrest him, saying he had stabbed his sister with a kitchen knife.

She was already dead when police arrived, and doctors could not save the baby.

A post-mortem showed the woman was eight months pregnant with a baby boy.

The killing was the fifth reported “honour killing” since the beginning of the year. Seventeen cases were reported in 2003, and 22 in 2002. Many more are believed to go unreported.

Human Rights Watch issued a report this week accusing the Jordanian government of failing to protect women from male relatives who threaten and kill them in ”honour” crimes.

Last September, Jordanian MPs rejected legislative amendments aiming to set harsher punishments for honour crime offenders. Under the country’s existing penal code, people found guilty of committing honour crimes can receive sentences as light as six months in jail.