Court upholds 7-vyear sentence in Amman sexual assault case

AMMAN — The Cassation Court has upheld a December Criminal Court ruling sentencing a man to over seven years in prison after convicting him of attempting to rape a woman in Amman in June of last year.

The Criminal Court declared the defendant guilty of attempting to sexually assault the victim on June 19, after threatening her with a knife and handed him seven years, and six months in prison.

Court papers said the defendant climbed through the victim’s window and entered her house at dawn and saw her sleeping.

”The defendant entered her room waving a knife and attempted to undress her, but she resisted and one of her children, who was sleeping in the next room, woke up and went to his mother’s room to check the matter,” the court documents said.

The defendant waived the knife at the child and asked him to return to his sleep, the court documents said.

“The victim begged the defendant to leave her and her children alone and eventually, he left the house out of fear that he might be caught,” court transcripts added.

The victim immediately contacted her husband and the couple filed a complaint at a police station and the defendant was arrested, the court added.

“The victim was able to identify the defendant from a police line-up and as a result he was charged with attempted sexual assault, among other charges,” court transcripts added.

The higher court that the Criminal Court proceedings were accurate and correct and the defendant received the appropriate sentence.

The court comprised former judges Mohammad Ibrahim, Yassin Abdullat, Naji Zu’bi, Saeed Mugheid, and Hamad Ghzawi.