20 Apr 2013

'Honor' killing

Jordanian police in the small town of Ruseifeh outside of the capital of Amman have discovered the partially burned dead bodies of a woman and her unborn child, the apparent victims of a so-called honor killing, as reported by the Saudi Gazette on April 14, 1013.

honor_killings

The unidentified woman was reported to have "her throat was slit in a hideous way" according to a Jordanian police spokesman. The woman's belly was also sliced open, revealing her 4 month old unborn child who was also burned. The local law enforcement officials believe the double murder is due to Islamic Sharia'a Law, in which women merely accused of dishonoring her family may be put to death, usually by the woman's father, brothers and/or husband.

As cited by the newspaper The Irish Independent via The Bulletin of Oppressed Women: "The blunt truth is that honour killings are mainly Muslim-on-Muslim."

According to the Irish news organ, Muslims perpetrate 91 percent of all "honor killings" world-wide. The news portal Gendercide Watch cites though technically illegal under the broad legal umbrella defining murder, "honor killings" are still legal under Jordan's heavily Sharia'a-influenced criminal and civil laws:
"'Honour' killings are sanctioned by law.
According to Article 340 of the criminal code, 'A husband or a close blood relative who kills a woman caught in a situation highly suspicious of adultery will be totally exempt from sentence.'
Article 98, meanwhile, guarantees a lighter sentence for male killers of female relatives who have committed an 'act which is illicit in the eyes of the perpetrator.'"

Examiner.com