Man arrested for stabbing sister to death

AMMAN — The Criminal Court prosecutor on Wednesday charged a man with premeditated murder in connection with the alleged murder of his sister in the Jordan Valley a day earlier, official sources said.

The 17-year-old victim was reportedly stabbed by her brother multiple times while at their family’s home on Tuesday night, Police Spokesperson Lt. Col. Amer Sartawi said.

“The suspect was immediately arrested and referred to the Criminal Court prosecutor for questioning and indictment,” Sartawi told The Jordan Times.

A senior source told The Jordan Times that the stabbing incident occurred “following a heated argument between the two siblings”.  

“The suspect headed to the kitchen, grabbed a knife and stabbed his sister in the back and stomach,” the senior source said.

The victim’s family contacted emergency services who transported her to a nearby hospital but she was declared dead on arrival, the senior source added.

A postmortem conducted by a team of pathologists at the National Institute of Forensic Medicine indicated that the victim died of multiple stab wounds to the chest and stomach, a senior medical source told The Jordan Times.

 The suspect was ordered detained for 15 days by the Criminal Court prosecution’s office at a correctional and rehabilitation centre pending further investigations.

Earlier in the week, Solidarity Is Global Institute (SIGI) issued a statement stating that the Kingdom witnessed 25 family homicides in 2024.

The total number of female victims was 18, including four children, according to SIGI’s statement.

The capital witnessed the highest number of recorded murders with 10, followed by six homicides in Irbid and three in Zarqa, according to the SIGI statement.

As for the most common weapons used in the family murders, SIGI said stabbing with sharp objects was the most used in the homicides, followed by gunfire as well the use of house utensils such as a cooking pan or spilling hot water.