Father confesses to killing daughter to ‘cleanse family honour’

AMMAN — The Criminal Court prosecutor on Saturday charged a man with premeditated murder in connection with the shooting death of his daughter in one of the governorates on Thursday, according to a judicial source. 

The 26-year-old victim was shot once in the head, allegedly by her father, at 6am on Thursday. The suspect then headed to the nearest police station and turned himself in.

In his initial confession to Criminal Court Prosecutor Ishaq Abu Awad over the weekend, the suspect claimed that a few days before the incident “he learnt that his daughter delivered a baby out of wedlock almost six months ago,” a senior judicial source said.

“The baby remained in hospital because he was suffering from health issues,” the source explained.

The suspect stated that he attempted to have his daughter married “to the man responsible for her pregnancy but failed, so he decided to murder his daughter instead to cleanse his family’s honour”, the source told The Jordan Times.

On Thursday morning, the source added, the suspect shot “his daughter with a pistol then headed to the nearest police station claiming to have killed her because she delivered a baby out of wedlock”.

The victim, a university teacher, was also continuing her higher education and was in her last year of obtaining a PhD.

The criminal court prosecutor also charged the suspect with possessing an illegal weapon, according to the source.

Abu Awad ordered the detention of the suspect at a correctional and rehabilitation centre for 15 days pending further investigation.