A court on Tuesday halved the jail term of a 29-year-old Jordanian man who shot his raped sister 12 times "in the name of honour", a judicial official said.

The criminal court initially sentenced the man to 15 years with hard labour for killing his sister in 2008 in Mowaqqar, southeast of the capital Amman, but immediately reduced it to seven-and-a-half years.

The judgment can be appealed within 30 days.

"The woman disappeared from home for six months after she was raped last year," the official said.

"Police kept the woman in custody for protection and later handed her over to the family, but the brother shot her 12 times in different parts of her body once she arrived home, killing her immediately."