8-year sentence upheld for man who raped child

AMMAN — The Cassation Court has upheld a December Criminal Court ruling sentencing a man to eight years in prison after convicting him of raping a child in an Amman neighbourhood in January 2015.

The Criminal Court has found the convicted man guilty of sexually assaulting an 11-year-old child in mid-January and handed him the maximum punishment.

Court papers said that the defendant lured the child to a deserted area where he sexually assaulted him.

“The victim returned home and informed his family who filed a complaint at the family protection department, and the defendant was later arrested,” court papers said.

 The convicted man had contested the ruling, claiming that “the Criminal Court disregarded his request in hearing several witnesses he had requested to testify in his case”.

Meanwhile, the Criminal Court general attorney also asked the higher court to uphold the original verdict “because it was fair and the defendant deserved it.”

The Cassation Court, which issued its decision late last month, ruled that the Criminal Court’s ruling falls within the law, that the proceedings were proper and that the sentence given was satisfactory.

The Cassation Court tribunal comprised President of the Court of Cassation Hisham Tel, and judges Basil Abu Anzeh, Mohammad Ibrahim, Naji Zu’bi and Hussein Sakran.