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Sisters axed in Muslim 'honor killing'

Brothers tracked them down in attempt to restore family reputation

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Posted: September 11, 2003

1:00 a.m. Eastern



© 2003 WorldNetDaily.com

Two sisters were hacked to death by their Muslim brothers in Jordan in an "honor killing" that came one day after the country's parliament rejected a bill imposing tougher sentences for the crime.

The Jordan Times newspaper said the brothers used axes to kill the unidentified sisters, aged 20 and 27, according to a BBC report.

The brothers, now in detention, admitted they carried out the killing to uphold the "family honor."

The practice is known in many Muslim communities as a way of applying justice to a woman deemed to have harmed a family's reputation.

The Times said the 27-year-old sister left home two years ago to marry a man without her family's permission. Three months ago, her 20-year-old sister ran away to join her.

Jordanian officials said someone tipped off the brothers about where the sisters were living. The men went into their home with axes and hacked them to death.

"It was a brutal scene," the official said, according to the paper. "One victim's head was nearly cut clean off."

On Sunday, the Jordanian parliament rejected a bill that would strengthen relevant laws, which currently mete out sentences as light as six months in prison for people guilty of honor killings.

The Jordanian paper said, officially, 12 women are reported to have been killed this year for reasons of "family honor."