A 41-year-old Jordanian man was charged with premeditated murder after his raped teenage niece was shot dead on Tuesday to "cleanse" the family's honour, police said.

"The man was arrested and charged after he shot the 16-year-old girl eight times in different parts of her body," a police source told AFP.

The girl was killed in the Nasser area east of Amman, the police source said.



"The suspect, who was arrested while carrying his gun, confessed to the crime, saying that he wanted to cleanse his family's honour after his niece was raped last year. She gave birth to a baby boy two months ago and her family kept the child."

Murder is punishable by the death penalty in Jordan, but in the case of so-called "honour killings" a court usually commutes or reduces sentences, particularly if the victim's family urges leniency.

Between 15 and 20 women are murdered each year in Jordan in the name of honour, despite government efforts to fight such crimes.



Parliament has refused to reform the penal code to ensure harsher penalties.

AFP