A 16-year-old Jordanian boy has been charged with murder after his 23-year-old sister was stabbed to death in an apparent "honour" killing.

The unnamed suspect allegedly stabbed his sister 10 times in the heart yesterday in a village in the northeastern province of Mafraq, an official said.

"He has confessed to murdering his sister because she disappeared from home for a month with a boyfriend," the official added.

It was the seventh reported so-called "honour" killing this year, according to security officials.

Jordanian authorities recorded 17 such murders in 2007, slightly up on previous years.

Killers in such cases often receive light sentences if convicted, as parliament has twice refused to reform the penal code despite pressure from human rights groups to end the near impunity of the perpetrators.

AFP