Man charged with beating death of 22-year-old sister

AMMAN — The Criminal Court prosecutor on Tuesday charged a 21-year-old man with the beating death of his married sister in Amman on Sunday, official sources said.

The 22-year-old victim was rushed to a hospital after vomiting while at her family’s home in Marka neighbourhood on January 24, and died shortly afterwards, a senior judicial source said.

An initial examination of the victim at the National Institute of Forensic Medicine (NIFM) indicated that she suffered internal bleeding that caused her death, Police Spokesperson Lt. Col. Amer Sartawi told The Jordan Times.

Based on the NIFM postmortem’s report, police summoned the victim’s family members for questioning, the senior judicial source told The Jordan Times.

The suspect reportedly initially confessed to police to punching his sister twice in the stomach following “a heated argument”, the senior judicial source, who is close to the investigations, added.

“The victim was staying at her family’s home following marital problem and an argument ensued about the matter with the suspect who ended up punching her in the stomach,” a second official source said.

The suspect is currently being questioned by Criminal Court Prosecutor Sultan Shakhanbeh, the second official source told The Jordan Times.

“Shakhanbeh has summoned the victim’s family members for further questioning,” the second source said.

The prosecutor is also awaiting the final forensic and criminal lab reports before wrapping up the case and preparing the indictment sheet, the second source said.

“The investigations are still ongoing, and the charges might change depending on the findings of the NIFM and criminal lab reports regarding the tissue and other samples taken from the victim,” the second source said.

The suspect was ordered detained by Shakhanbeh at a correctional and rehabilitation centre for 15 days pending further investigations, according to the second source.