Man charged with premeditated murder of his wife

AMMAN — The Criminal Court prosecutor on Thursday charged a 44-year-old man with premeditated murder in connection with the chocking death of his wife in Zarqa governorate last week, official sources said.

The victim, a mother of seven children, was found dead in her house in Russeifa three days after reportedly being murdered by her husband, a senior judicial source told The Jordan Times.

“The husband confessed to murdering his wife by choking her with his hands and taking his children with him to live in a hotel,” the senior judicial source added.

Investigators who found the victim’s body learnt that the husband had been in prison for “drug-related charges,” the source explained.

“They also learned that the victim was also imprisoned on similar charges and determined that the husband was the prime suspect since he and the children were missing from the house,” the judicial source explained.

Upon questioning the suspect, the judicial source maintained, “he claimed that he chocked his wife for reasons related to family honour”, the judicial source added.

The suspect also claimed that the couple had constant “marital problems and that he reported her once to the police on drug related charges and she did the same to him,” said the senior judicial source.

Meanwhile, the judicial source added the juvenile prosecutor is questioning the oldest son, 14, “to determine if he was involved in the murder of his mother”.

“The juvenile prosecutor questioned the children and is trying to determine if the oldest son helped his father,” the senior judicial source explained.

The Ministry of Social Development’s Assistant Secretary General Mahmoud Jbour said the couple’s children were admitted to the ministry’s social facilities.

“We immediately intervened to help the children [four girls and two boys] who are aged between 14 and 30 months because we learned that they witnessed the murder of their mother by their father,” Jbour told The Jordan Times.

The ministry official said a team of specialists is currently providing social and psychological help to the children to overcome the trauma.

“We are committed to maintaining the rights of all children living in Jordan and in this case want to make sure we will secure all their needs,” Jbour stressed.

“This is the ministry’s responsibility and we will never leave anyone behind. It is our duty to protect all children and juveniles,” Jbour added.