A Pakistani man accused of killing his daughter five days after she filed for divorce to end her arranged marriage wept in court Tuesday, telling a Clayton County magistrate he is innocent.

"I have done nothing wrong," Chaudhry Rashid told Chief Magistrate Daphne Walker through interpreter Younis Farhat. Farhat said Rashid speaks primarily Urdu and Punjabi.

But police say Rashid, 54, used a bungee cord to strangle Sandeela Kanwal, 25, early Sunday morning in the family's Utah Drive home in Jonesboro.

Rashid, who is being held without bond, told the judge he wanted to observe his Muslim beliefs in the Clayton jail. He wants to follow a diet that forbids the consumption of pork in any form and requires other meats are prepared according to Islamic rules.

Rashid's wife, Gina Rashid, told police the father and daughter argued over Kanwal wanting to end her arranged marriage.

Clayton Superior Court records show Kanwal filed for divorce July 1 from Majid Latif, alleging the marriage was irretrievably broken. The couple married March 14, 2002, in Gujrat, a district in the Pakistan province of Punjab. Kanwal and a brother, Hamayun Rashid, 27, bought the Utah Drive house in November 2005, and the Rashid family lived there with the married couple.

Kanwal's divorce filing states the couple separated April 15, her 25th birthday. She said they had no joint property and no children.

Kanwal alleges a family friend told her Latif returned to Chicago April 25 but that she had no idea how to find him. She also contacted Latif's father May 18 in Gujrat, the papers state, and he also said he did not know where his son was.

Five days after the divorce filing, Clayton police say Rashid killed his daughter.

Defense attorney Tammi Long was hired by the family to represent Rashid on murder charges. Long said she's known the family less than five years, having done business-related work for them. Police said Rashid runs a pizza restaurant in East Point. Rashid told Walker he is in the United States legally and possesses a green card.

Members of the Rashid family attending Tuesday's hearing declined to talk about the case. No one answered the door at the family home Monday afternoon. Efforts to reach Latif have been unsuccessful.

After Tuesday's hearing, Long raised doubts about the possible motive for Kanwal's death.

"I don't know anything about an arranged marriage," Long said. "I am not positive that is a factor in this case."

However, Long said she could not elaborate and would need time to talk to the family in depth. She also asked for privacy and declined to discuss Kanwal's funeral arrangements.

"This is a difficult time for him and his family," she said. "He is holding up the best he can. We'd just ask that the family's time and privacy be respected."

In court, Rashid made guttural noises and cried. He rocked back and forth and appeared to be talking to himself before the hearing started. Through Farhat, Rashid told Walker he was mourning the loss of his daughter.

"My daughter just died and I am not in a state of mind to ask any questions," he said.