August 02, 2008	Saturday	Rajab 29, 1429

AMMAN, Aug 1: A 26-year-old Jordanian man was charged with murder on Friday after his 23-year-old sister was shot dead in an apparent “honour” killing, a security official said.

The unnamed suspect allegedly shot his sister six times on Thursday night in the Nqeira area south of the capital Amman, the official said.

“He turned himself in and confessed to murdering his sister to cleanse his family’s honour because she disappeared from home for four months with a man,” the official said.

“He killed her the moment she returned home last night. But forensic tests showed that the girl was a virgin.” It was the eighth reported so-called honour killing this year, according to Jordanian authorities which in 2007 recorded 17 such murders — a slight rise on previous years.

Those convicted in such cases often receive light sentences because parliament has twice refused to reform the penal code, despite pressure from human rights groups to end the near impunity of perpetrators.—AFP