Man who reportedly killed sister in Ramtha referred to psychiatric evaluation

AMMAN — The Criminal Court prosecutor on Monday referred a man to a government institute for psychiatric evaluation a day after he reportedly bludgeoned his younger sister to death with a sledgehammer in Ramtha.

The 26-year-old suspect reportedly locked the door on the 35-year-old victim while at their family's home and "struck her repeatedly on the head with a sledgehammer late Sunday night," Police Spokesperson Lt. Col. Amer Sartawi said.

The police official told The Jordan Times that investigators were called to the scene and the suspect was immediately apprehended.

In his initial confession to Criminal Court Prosecutor Jihad Dureidi, the suspect claimed that "he was receiving threats on Facebook and was suffering as a result, and he was afraid that his sister will face the same threats so he decided to kill her," a second source told The Jordan Times.

"The suspect claimed that unknown people were posting threatening messages, so to spare his sister the same fate he decided to end her life," the second source told The Jordan Times.

The source said, "the victim's siblings attempted to enter the room to rescue her and by the time they broke the door she was already dead".

Based on the suspect's behaviour and statements, the second source maintained, Dureidi decided to refer the suspect to the National Institute of Psychiatric Medicine for a mental evaluation.

The Criminal Court prosecutor also charged the suspect with manslaughter, according to the second source.

The victim, who is married, left her husband's home almost a year ago because "she had constant marital problems with her husband", according to the second source.

The victim had no children, the source added.

A team of government pathologists performed an autopsy on the victim and determined that she died of multiple blows that caused a fractured skull, a senior medical source said.

"The blows also caused a brain bleeding," the senior medical source told The Jordan Times.

Duridi is expected to hear more witnesses in the case in the coming week, the second source added.