Nine year sentence for man who molested 14-year-old sister

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld a March Criminal Court ruling giving a man an increased sentence of 9 years in jail after convicting him of molesting his teenage sister in an Amman neighbourhood in July 2017.

The court first handed the defendant, who is a vegetable seller, a seven-year prison term after finding him guilty of molesting his 14-year-old sister at their home in mid-July. 

However, the Criminal Court decided to increase the sentence by two years and four months because the victim was his sister.

Court documents said the victim was sleeping in her bed in early July when “the defendant lay next to her and molested her”, adding “the victim pushed him away but he did not stop harassing her for over a week, pushing her to run away from her house because she was afraid her father would not believe her if she told him about the sexual assault”.

The victim went missing for a few days, then contacted her family and informed them about the assault, court documents noted, adding that her family informed the authorities and their son was arrested by the police.

The defendant did not contest the Criminal Court’s ruling, and the higher court ruled that the verdict was correct and the defendant deserved the
punishment.

 The Court of Cassation judges were Mohammad Ibrahim, Naji Zubi, Yassin Abdullat, Nayef Samarat and Hamad Ghzawi.