Beheading of wife by US Muslim TV head appears to be honour killing.

Byline: ANI

Washington, Feb 18 (ANI): The beheading of 37-year-old Aasiya Hassan by her husband and Pakistani origin American entrepreneur, who is the founder of a US Muslim TV network, has all the markings of an honor killing, psychologists and Islamic experts have said.

Muzzammil Hassan, 44, remains jailed after being charged with the second-degree murder of his wife, whose body was found on Thursday at the office of Bridges TV, their television station in Orchard Park, near Buffalo.

Orchard Park Police Chief Andrew Benz said Hassan has not confessed to the crime, despite media reports to the contrary, FOX News reported.

Asked if the murder is being probed as an honor killing, Benz replied, "We've been told that there's no place for that kind of action in their faith, but I wouldn't say that there's anything that's being completely ruled out at this point."

But psychologists and some American Muslims said the slaying has all the markings of an honor killing.

"The fierce and gruesome nature of this murder signals it's an honor killing. What she did was worthy of capital punishment in his eyes," said Dr. Phyllis Chesler, an author and professor of psychology at the Richmond College of the City University of New York.

Following multiple episodes of domestic violence, Aasiya Hassan filed for divorce on February 6 and obtained an order of protection that barred her husband from their home.

Chesler, who wrote "Are Honor Killings Simply Domestic Violence?" for Middle East Quarterly, said some Muslim men consider divorce a dishonor on their family.

Chesler said honor killings typically are Muslim-on-Muslim crimes and largely involve teenage daughters, young women and, to a lesser extent, wives.

.Zuhdi Jasser, founder and chairman of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy, agreed with Chesler.

"It certainly has all the markings of an honor killing. She expressed through the legal system that she was being abused, and at the moment she asked for divorce, she's not only murdered - she's decapitated," FOX News quoted Jasser, as saying.

Muzzammil and Aasiya Hassan founded Bridges TV in November 2004 to counter anti-Islam stereotypes, touting the network as the "first-ever full-time home for American Muslims," according to a 2004 press release. (ANI)

Copyright 2009 Asian News International (ANI) - All Rights Reserved.

Provided by Syndigate.info an Albawaba.com company