Father Kills Daughter; Doubted Virginity

I am not so uninformed as to think that this man is representative of all Jordanian males. I'm sure there were many issues in this family not mentioned in the article. Many of which led this girl to run away numerous times. Guess #1: Her father is a maniacal tyrant in dire need of Prozac.

Seriously, whenever I read an article like this I am reminded of just how lucky I am to be an American woman. njqt466

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Father Kills Daughter; Doubted Virginity
http://www.comcast.net/news/international/index.jsp?cat=INTERNATIONAL&fn=/2007/01/25/570446.html&cvqh=itn_doubtvirginity
By SHAFIKA MATTAR, Associated Press Writer
Thu Jan 25, 7:38 AM

AMMAN, Jordan - A Jordanian man fatally shot his 17-year-old daughter whom he suspected of having sex despite a medical exam that proved her chastity, an official said Thursday. The man surrendered to police hours after the killing, saying he had done it for family honor.

A state forensic pathologist, who works at the National Institute of Forensic Medicine in Amman where an autopsy was performed, said in a phone interview that the girl had run away from home several times for unknown reasons.

Weeks ago, the girl had returned home from a family protection clinic after doctors had vouched for her virginity and the father had signed a pledge not to harm her, the pathologist said on condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the case.

"The tests proved that she was a virgin," the pathologist said. The girl returned home only after her father signed a statement promising not to harm her, he added.

The father shot the girl four times in the head on Tuesday. On Wednesday, an autopsy was performed that again showed "she was still a virgin," the pathologist said.

Authorities have not disclosed the names of the father or the daughter or even their hometown, saying only that they lived in a southern province.
The crime is the first "honor killing" this year in Jordan, where many men consider sex out of wedlock to be an almost indelible stain on a family's reputation. On average, about 20 women in the country are killed by their relatives in such cases each year. Women have been killed for simply dating.

Global human rights organizations have condemned such killings and appealed to King Abdullah II to put an end to them.

In response, the government has abolished a section in the penal code that allowed for "honor" killers to get sentences as lenient as six months in prison. Instead, the government has told judges to consider honor killings on a par with other homicides, which in Jordan are punishable by up to 15 years in jail.

But attempts to introduce harsher sentences have been blocked by conservative lawmakers who argue that tougher penalties would lead to promiscuity.

Queen Rania also has called for harsher punishment for such killers.

This is sad but hardly uncommon. This happens in the Middle East and South East Asia on a regular basis. It is also reported to happen in China and Japan as well. We cannot just blame the father in this instance as well; society leaves them helpless in these situations where the girl is deemed a "whore"; not only will this girl bring shame on herself and her entire family. No one would be willing to marry her; even worse if she has any sisters they can forget about getting married too. So, to save the family's reputation and their other daughters lives, fathers end up doing the unthinkable.

The fundamentalists over there are approximately 0.06 degrees worse than the fundamentalists here. I have a sneaking suspicion that the big difference is that in some of the middle eastern countries, the laws are a bit more lax concerning these kinds of issues. A man who kills his daughter for suspicion of premarital sex basically gets a slap on the wrist, and their government resists legal reform. There are probably plenty over here who would gladly kill every person they knew or suspected was homosexual. Some of the more regressive legislators would probably like to relax our laws in that regard.

Some people are just plain stupid when the subject is human sexuality.

ohmyfuckinggodheather

"Say, who you callin 'boy'?" Jones took the handle of the broom and pushed vigorously toward the altar. "You ain Scarla O'Horror.'

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Excuse me, while I kiss the sky.

I think the father just wanted the daughter all to himself.

On a serious note, I too agree that the fundamentalists overseas are much worse than the ones here in the USA. At least the fundamentalists here aren't protected by the law for any heinous acts like this that they would commit. And at least dating and sex sans marriage isn't punishable by death. We also are not a monarchy. "0.06 degrees" sounds like a massive understatement in that regard.

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What a psycho.

*cocksnuggler*

I don't think the man himself is 100% to blame, obviously he shoulders most of the burden, probably 80%, but it's a society that makes such things acceptable that is the real problem.

And we can't just say "oh, those crazy middle east people!" either: there's plenty of racism, sexism, homophobia and shit like that flying around in the west too, I think a lot of it is hidden, but it's there.

The federation of Christian Lawyers or something tried to block equal oppertunities laws here in the UK early this year IIRC. These laws would simply mean that you'd be commiting a crime if you refused to provide services to somebody on basis of sexuality, just as it is illegal to do so on basis of sex or race.

These "christians" attempted to block the law on the basis that it'd force them to act in ways against their faith (i.e. do things for Gay people). Luckilly the people in charge here are atleast slightly more sane than them, and the laws went through, but the fact that there were protests show how biggoted society still is.

Peer pressure and social expectation is one thing, murder is another. Esepcially one committed on such dubious grounds. It's a terrible indictment of any culture when the murder of ones offspring is not only condoned but expected. Placing social status and personal 'honour' above the life of a child is a hard concept to grasp, even when the reasons behind it are explained and understood.

Of course that's from the perspective of our civilised western culture, the very same culture that took the lives of many thousands in the Middle East (many of those being murders also) on equally dubious grounds.

Sometimes it's hard to tell just who the bad guys really are.

Is that a professional diagnosis?

Does KILLING YOUR OWN DAUGHTER earn you more honour than her HAVING SEX?

WTF. Some peoples need to step out of the Dark Ages.

How can there be any honour in killing one of your children...What a fucked up part of the world.

If I told you babe
That I was in love with you
If we got married
Would that be cool?

You make me so confused
The beautiful ones
You always seem to lose

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Fucked up people come from all societies and walks of life- to label it as an honour killing and create the impression that fucked up people are more tolerated in Jordan then here is what is fucked up.

No society accepts the death of ones children and no parent that is not fucked up could want to murder their own children- no matter what they did

Now that Stronzo's on the outs, you're shooting to become the resident board bigot? Don't expect to make many friends by flaunting your petty hatreds here.

Besides, it's boring. You hate religious people. We get it, already.

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Yup.

*cocksnuggler*

I concur with this diagnosis!

You may find these interesting reading:

Death Before Dishonour
Broken Bodies - Broken Dreams
Gendercide

There is a world of difference between something being condoned legally and condoned socially. Fucked up is entirely subjective, as the first article underscores quite well.

CHILL OUT ROYAL T,

I specifically said than not all Jordanian men were like that because although I have never met anyone from there; I know that there are good and bad people in every race, creed, color, and nation.

I think it's rather narrow minded of you to write off that entire part if the world.