‘Man charged with murder of child in festive firing incident’

AMMAN — A man was charged over the weekend with the premeditated murder of a child who was shot during a wedding in Irbid last week, official sources said Saturday.

The incident was captured in a video posted online. It showed a man reloading a gun and shooting in the air during a wedding, and in another attempt to reload the gun that was pointed towards two children standing next to him a bullet was discharged, striking one of them.

The footage shows one child ducking when the bullet was fired while the second child standing next to him falls to the ground and people start shouting at the wedding.

The video clip went viral over the weekend, sparking outrage among social media activists, who called on the government to take stiff action against those who practise festive firing, leaving dozens of people either killed or injured every year.

The bullet struck the six-year-old victim in the chest and he died instantly, a source told The Jordan Times.

“The incident occurred during a wedding in Huwara town and the suspect was arrested immediately,” a senior official source said.

The suspect, who is in his thirties, was charged by the Criminal Court prosecutor and was ordered detained for 15 days at a correctional and rehabilitation centre pending further investigation, a source close to the case said.

The source added that the shooter and the victim are cousins, noting that the child’s father dropped charges.

Commenting on the video, uploaded on YouTube (www.youtube.com/watch?v=om4uGDEY73o), a user named Mohammad Jo wrote: “If there [are] tough laws then nobody would do this... you should blame the government for not taking a serious judicial proceedings.”  

Another user called Osmosis wrote: “Seriously how many times does it need to happen before someone realises it might be a rather unsafe and stupid tradition?” 

Earlier this month, tribal leaders, civil society representatives and activists in Maan Governorate, some 220km south of Amman, signed an honour pact to put an end to firing bullets in the air as a means of celebration on various occasions.

The pact was signed as part of a campaign launched by activists in the southern governorate in cooperation with the Maan Police Department to raise awareness on the serious harm and loss of life caused by celebratory gunfire.

Several campaigns have been launched on Facebook over the past few months, urging people to refrain from the practice, with some social media activists describing festive firing as a “ridiculous and stupid method of celebrating”.

Some families are stating in wedding invitations that festive firing will not be accepted at the ceremony. Many other families and tribes have also been posting large banners saying they are against festive firing at celebrations of various occasions.

In April, the Public Security Department (PSD) launched a campaign to crack down on celebratory gunfire at social occasions, ahead of summer and the wedding season.

The Iftaa Department also issued a religious edict in April urging people to abandon this practice because it disturbs the peace and harms others.

According to official figures released last October, three people were killed and 41 injured by festive firing in 2014.

At least 21 cases were registered last year against anonymous assailants, where shooters could not be identified, according to the PSD.