[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

April 30



JORDAN:

Jordanian to hang for raping, killing girlfriend


A Jordanian was condemned to death today for raping and stabbing his teenage 
girlfriend to death before burning her body because her family refused to let 
him marry her, a court official said.

"The criminal court in Amman sentenced the 19-year-old to death by hanging for 
finding him guilty of murdering his girlfriend, who was also 19, in May last 
year," he told AFP.

"He wanted to marry the girl, but her family refused." The official said the 
convict "got enraged and decided to commit his crime." "He took the girl to a 
deserted area south of Amman, where he raped and stabbed her to death several 
times in the neck, chest and stomach," he added.

"The next day, he burned her body and turned himself into police, confessing to 
the murder." Murder is punishable by death in Jordan but, in so-called "honor 
killings," courts sometimes commute or reduce sentences.

Between 15 and 20 women die in such murders each year in the Arab kingdom.

(source: Agence France-Presse)