Husband charged with murder of wife on ‘suspicion of infidelity’

AMMAN — The Criminal Court prosecutor on Monday charged a 37-year-old man with murder in connection with the fatal beating of his wife with a belt in Madaba a day earlier, official sources said. 

The 26-year-old victim was rushed to a hospital in Madaba, 30km southwest of Amman, by the suspect and his mother but she died shortly after being admitted.

“The suspect claimed at the hospital that his wife fell and died, but attending physicians did not believe his story because they detected bruises that covered a large portion of the victim’s body,” a senior judicial source said.

The physicians at the hospital contacted the authorities and the victim’s body was sent to Salt National Institute of Forensic Medicine for an autopsy, where pathologists established that the woman died of significant bruising with extensive subcutaneous haemorrhage.

The husband was summoned by police for questioning, and he confessed in front of the police and Criminal Court Prosecutor Mohammad Bdeirat to “beating up his wife with a belt because he suspected she was talking to strange men”, according to the judicial source.

“The suspect claimed in his initial confession that his wife was talking to other men with her mobile and that he suspected that she was in a relationship,” the source, who is close to the investigations, said.

On Sunday, a second source told The Jordan Times that the victim’s wife had received a call “which brought back the suspicions that were in the suspect’s head”.

“The suspect said he beat up his wife with a belt for around 20 minutes and she passed out, so he informed his mother,” the source said.

The two rushed the woman to the hospital where the incident was exposed, the second source added.

The couple had been married for five years and do not have any children.

Bdeirat charged the suspect with murder and ordered his detention for 15 days at a correctional and rehabilitation centre pending further investigation.

He is currently questioning other witnesses in the case, including family members and other relatives, the second source said.