Jordan: Man kills sister over mobile phone photo

By Rana Husseini

AMMAN -- A 27-year-old man reportedly shot and killed his older divorced sister late Sunday night after seeing her photo on his friend's mobile phone, official sources said. The 31-year-old victim was shot twice in the head at her family's home in Irbid, allegedly by her brother, who turned himself in to police shortly after the incident, one official source said.

"The man told police he shot and killed his sister to cleanse his family's honour because he saw her photo on his friend's mobile," the source told The Jordan Times. The suspect told interrogators he was sitting with his friends on Sunday evening and started playing with one of their mobiles when he saw his sibling's photo, the source said.

The suspect left immediately and headed home. He reproached his sister about the photo and her alleged "immoral behaviour," according to the source. "The suspect then drew a gun and shot his sister twice in the head killing her instantaneously," the source added.

Source: [Jordan Times]

The suspect also told interrogators that his sibling, a mother of one child who was divorced at the beginning of the year, "was going out frequently and was involved in relationships," the source said. An autopsy was performed on the victim at the Irbid National Institute of Forensic Medicine and blood and tissue samples were sent to the criminal lab for further analysis.

The victim became the fifth person reportedly murdered in the Kingdom in so-called honour crime since the beginning of the year. Meanwhile, Amman police are investigating the mysterious death of a Moroccan belly dancer on Monday, a second official source said.

The 27-year-old woman was rushed to Al Bashir Hospital after complaining from severe stomach pains, but was declared dead on arrival by attending doctors, the official source said. A preliminary examination by pathologists found no traces of violence or struggle on the victim's body, the source said.

"Pathologists took samples from the victim's stomach and other parts of her body for further analysis," the source said.