A Jordanian on death row for the murder of his married sister who used her mobile too often in an apparent "honour killing” has had his term commuted to ten years in jail, a judicial official said Monday.

"The man confessed to the crime after he was arrested shortly after the crime," the official told AFP.
 

The defendant said "he stabbed his sister, who was in her 40s, in the stomach, back and chest because she frequently talked over her mobile phone and allegedly had suspicious behaviour," said the official, on condition of anonymity.
 

The man, 21, was charged with premeditated murder, which is punishable by death, but the court reduced the sentence on Sunday after the family dropped all legal claims against him, the official said.
 

He said the 2007 killing took place in Jabal Akhdar, near the centre of Amman.
 

Between 15 and 20 women are murdered each year in Jordan in so-called honour crimes, in which male relatives kill female kin they suspect of illicit behaviour with men.
 

In September, the US based Human Rights Watch urged the kingdom to reform its penal code, which it says condones the murder of women in the name of honour crimes.
 

Source: AFP