No place for such behaviour

At a time when many thought that the so-called honour crimes were a thing of the past, not so distant, admittedly, the new year brought the terrifying news that a 25-year-old man stabbed his sister to death in the name of “family honour”.

The premeditated crime took place in broad daylight on a main street of Amman and in front of witnesses who were prevented from interfering to save the bleeding victim by the man shouting that he wanted to “cleanse his family’s honour”.

The perpetrator was apprehended and duly charged with premeditated murder. He is expected to be found guilty and to receive an appropriate punishment from a court of law, but the question on many people’s minds is why, after so many years of relentless efforts and campaigns to fight this sick behaviour, it is still happening.

Why does a person believe he has the divine right to take a life, often of a very close relative? 

Boasting about killing one’s relative in cold blood in the name of “honour” is abhorrent to every decent human being.

Believing that one is called to act murderously for any reason is sick.

And the fact that this inhuman behaviour continues to manifest itself suggests that the fight against it has not taken deep enough roots to make a difference.

This means that the society — families, schools, government, civil society — must join forces and increase efforts to put a stop to such acts.

The media have a great role to play in raising awareness about and combating this evil, and in instilling a culture of humane behaviour that does not accept killing another human being under any circumstances, let alone for the very tenuous justification embraced by some: “honour”.

Crime should not be allowed to become the norm, but be decried as the deviant manifestation that it is.

The trial of murderers such as the young man who killed his sister must receive wide publicity; it must be held in a public court session and the verdict should show that crimes cannot be perpetrated with impunity.