Criminal Court ‘will not tolerate any domestic violence’

AMMAN — Criminal Court Prosecutor Ishaq Abu Awad on Saturday continued questioning a man who allegedly murdered his wife following a domestic dispute last week.

The 37-year-old woman was rushed to a private hospital by her son who found her lying unconscious in the bathroom last Tuesday. However, the mother of four was declared dead on arrival.

“The suspect first claimed that his wife died from health complications but physicians at the hospital decided to refer her for an autopsy because they could not determine the cause of death,” a senior judicial source said.

Forensic experts at the Zarqa National Institute of Forensic Medicine (ZNIFM) revealed that it was a homicide after detecting strangulation marks on the victim caused by a manual grip, the source added.

The husband was summoned for questioning and confessed to murdering his wife following a domestic dispute, according to the judicial source.

In his initial confession to Abu Awad, the suspect claimed that he was engaged in "a heated argument with his wife over the house expenditures”, the judicial source said, adding “the suspect stated that he had no intention of killing his wife and that he just hit her as they were arguing and she fell on the ground”.

The suspect said he thought his wife "had passed out and that she would wake up later which is why he did not check on her”, the source added, noting that the suspect confessed to “regularly beating up his wife" saying that "she never objected except the day she died”.

“The suspect said he put his hands over her mouth to prevent her from screaming while beating her up and it seems that she died,” the source explained.

However, Criminal Court General Attorney Judge Ashraf Abdullah stressed that his office "will not tolerate any incidents that target women and children", explaining that it is the reason the man was charged with manslaughter.

“The prosecution office will follow up and thoroughly investigate any incident that targets women and children in our society. The safety and security of our society is our priority,” Abdullah told The Jordan Times.

“We will make sure that justice is served for victims of domestic violence through the proper legal channels,” Abdullah stressed.