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Man acquitted of rape, abduction charges for ‘lack of evidence’

By Rana Husseini - Apr 28,2018 - Last updated at Apr 28,2018

AMMAN — The Criminal Court acquitted a 35-year-old man of charges of abducting and raping a married woman in Amman in December 2017, his lawyer said on Saturday.

The defendant was standing trial at the Criminal Court on charges of abduction, rape, assault, molestation and threatening of a married woman.

However, the tribunal decided to acquit the defendant of all charges “for lack of evidence”, his lawyer Eman Bataineh said.

“The court ruled in favour of my client since there was no strong evidence implicating him, and the victim gave contradictory statements about the alleged incidents,” Bataineh told The Jordan Times.

Court papers said the defendant met the victim, a mother of three children, via Facebook and they became very close.

“The victim had a fight with her husband during the same period and left the house for few days,” court documents said, adding that when the victim returned home, she “claimed that the defendant abducted and sexually assaulted her”.

The defendant, who pleaded not guilty to all charges, had stated that their close relationship was based on mutual consent by the victim, his lawyer said.

The court comprised of judges Ibrahim Bawareed, Ramzi Nawayeesh and Lafi Abu Tayeh.

The Criminal Court Prosecutor present in the courtroom when the verdict was read was Salah Taleb.

The verdict is subject to appeal by the general attorney at the Court of Cassation within the next 30 days.

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