First Posted 21:40:00 05/22/2008
AMMAN -- A jealous Jordanian man has been charged with murder for stabbing his teenage cousin to death during her wedding to another man, a security official said.
"The 26-year-old suspect stabbed his 16-year-old cousin with a dagger five times in the chest and stomach inside the court as she and another male relative were being married by a judge," the official told Agence France-Presse.
"She was rushed to hospital but died there. The man, who apparently killed her because she refused to marry him, was arrested immediately."
If convicted, the man could face the death penalty over the incident in the southern city of Karak.
Court permission is usually required for women under 18 to get married in the Muslim kingdom.
"So far, there is no indication that the crime was an honor killing," another security official said.
Under Jordanian law, crimes of passion, those committed in the heat of the moment, are not subject to the death penalty.
Killers often receive light sentences if convicted as the standard punishment under these circumstances is normally three to 12 months in jail.
Parliament has twice refused to reform the penal code despite pressure from human rights groups to end the near impunity of the perpetrators.
Jordanian authorities recorded a total of 17 so-called "honor" killings in 2007, slightly up on previous years.
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