Ten years is better than six months. An initial sentence of death is better than the previous slap on the wrist. Progress is being made.
But charges should not be dropped for Suzanne (and her baby’s) murder .
Imagine the horror of the bystanders to watch a pregnant woman be dragged from a bus and stabbed 30 times.
Imagine the sadness of her father who hugs her abaya still. Journalist Banan Malkawi provided her name and family detail.
AMMAN – The Criminal Court has sentenced a 22-year-old man to a 10-year prison term for murdering his sister in Marka in June last year.
The court first handed the victim’s brother the death penalty after convicting him of stabbing her to death on the street on June 1, but the tribunal decided immediately to reduce the sentence to 10 years, because the victim’s family dropped charges against their son.
The court also convicted the victim’s 19-year-old cousin of being an accomplice to the premeditated murder, but halved his sentence for the same reason.
According to court transcripts, a few months before the incident the victim told her family she wanted to marry an Arab national.
The family initially refused, but later agreed and the two were married almost two months before the incident, the court added.
Three weeks before the murder, the defendant learnt from his family that his sister was in a relationship with her husband before their marriage and that she was pregnant, so he plotted to kill her, according to court transcripts.
The victim’s brother informed his cousin and they followed her to a bus terminal on the day of the incident, the court added.
They dragged the victim out of a bus and her brother stabbed her repeatedly to the waist, chest and stomach in front of shocked passers-by, the court said.
well.. I somehow blame everyone that was watching him stabbing her. What are they watching? A movie? A sad story.
Again.. family drops “personal right” against their son.. they dropped Suzanne’s right to life.. You know her father still holds and hugs her Abaya every night! She had a father, who married her off willingly to the young man! And now parents have lost both a daughter..and a son, when they could’ve had both and a grandchild! So-called honor takes a soul because of a backbiting text message! I cry over these stories, but this one hit too close to home
stories like this make me sick.. 7awayan!! i mean she mrried the dude wa Allah satar 3aleha lazim yu2tolha??? wa pregnant kmaan! its shocking… and sad
Maher, it seems the cousin threatened those who tried to help her with a knife. I imagine you and your baseball team would have found a way to save her. I appreciate your heart, and your sadness.
Banan, thanks for these details, I need to add ‘weeping’ as a category. The thought of her dad holding her abaya in her memory tears my heart. Oh my, the loss this son caused the family.
Banan, would you consider becoming a part of La Sharaf Fil Jareemah? It seems we have all been hit too close to home with it recently, and it is time to use the grief and anger productively for positive change.