Three brothers in custody after stabbing death of sister

AMMAN — Authorities on Saturday were questioning three brothers in connection with the stabbing death of their widowed sister in Irbid over the weekend, official sources said.

The victim, 40, and mother of four, was rushed to hospital suffering from multiple stab wounds to the stomach on Friday night, Police Spokesperson Lt. Col. Amer Sratawi said.

“The victim was admitted to hospital and was in a critical condition. On Saturday, she succumbed to her wounds and died in hospital,” Sartawi told The Jordan Times.

The police official told The Jordan Times that investigators are currently questioning the brothers to determine “if they are all involved in the stabbing incident”.

A senior judicial source told The Jordan Times that the Criminal Court prosecutor was notified by police about the incident.

“Criminal Court Prosecutor Qahtan Qawaqzeh was expected to start questioning the suspects Saturday evening,” the source said.

“We still do not have a clear motive behind the murder and we are hopeful that further investigation by Qawaqzeh and other law enforcement officials will give us some answers,” the judicial source told The Jordan Times.

A postmortem conducted by a team of pathologists at the Irbid National Institute of Forensic Medicine indicated that the victim received seven stab wounds to her chest and stomach, a senior medical source said.

“The cause of death was a fatal stab wound that penetrated the air pipes and caused internal bleeding,” the senior medical source told The Jordan Times.

The three suspects were ordered detained at a correctional and rehabilitation facility for 15 days pending further investigation, the judicial source added.

“Qawaqzeh is also expected to summon the victim’s family members and other witnesses to determine the cause and learn more about the murder’s circumstances before levelling any charges,” the source concluded.