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Father kills daughter; doubted virginity

2007-06-06 10:52:40

By SHAFIKA MATTAR, Associated Press Writer Thu Jan 25 2007, 7:38 AM ET

AMMAN, Jordan - A Jordanian man fatally shot his 17-year-old daughter whom he

suspected of having sex despite a medical exam that proved her chastity, an

official said Thursday. The man surrendered to police hours after the killing,

saying he had done it for family honor.

A state forensic pathologist, who works at the National Institute of Forensic

Medicine in Amman where an autopsy was performed, said in a phone interview

that the girl had run away from home several times for unknown reasons.

Weeks ago, the girl had returned home from a family protection clinic after

doctors had vouched for her virginity and the father had signed a pledge not to

harm her, the pathologist said on condition of anonymity due to the sensitive

nature of the case.

"The tests proved that she was a virgin," the pathologist said. The girl

returned home only after her father signed a statement promising not to harm

her, he added.

The father shot the girl four times in the head on Tuesday. On Wednesday, an

autopsy was performed that again showed "she was still a virgin," the

pathologist said.

Authorities have not disclosed the names of the father or the daughter or even

their hometown, saying only that they lived in a southern province.

The crime is the first "honor killing" this year in Jordan, where many men

consider sex out of wedlock to be an almost indelible stain on a family's

reputation. On average, about 20 women in the country are killed by their

relatives in such cases each year. Women have been killed for simply dating.

Global human rights organizations have condemned such killings and appealed to

King Abdullah II to put an end to them.

In response, the government has abolished a section in the penal code that

allowed for "honor" killers to get sentences as lenient as six months in

prison. Instead, the government has told judges to consider honor killings on a

par with other homicides, which in Jordan are punishable by up to 15 years in

jail.

But attempts to introduce harsher sentences have been blocked by conservative

lawmakers who argue that tougher penalties would lead to promiscuity.

Queen Rania also has called for harsher punishment for such killers.