2 brothers arrested for allegedly beating their sister into coma

AMMAN — Two brothers were arrested on Sunday in connection with the reported beating of their 20-year-old sister almost a month ago in Amman, senior judicial sources said.

The woman, who was not identified by officials, was admitted to Jordan University Hospital (JUH) on December 24 after being “assaulted by her brother over family disputes”, Police Spokesperson Lt. Col. Amer Sartawi said over the weekend.

The victim was referred to the Family Protection Department and they interrogated one of her brothers and he was referred to the administrative governor, a senior judicial source told The Jordan Times.

“The administrative governor released the suspect on bail after his family, who claimed the victim fell and hit her head, dropped charges against him,” the senior judicial source added.

However, new evidence surfaced on Saturday and as a result, Amman Attorney General Hassan Abdallat summoned two brothers for questioning, according to the senior judicial source.

“One of the victim’s siblings had a change of heart and offered a different story of what happened and based on the new testimony, Abdallat decided to question her two brothers aged 25 and 26,” a second senior judicial source said.

In addition, investigators also examined a forensic report that was conducted on the victim on Saturday, according to the senior judicial source.

The forensic report indicated the young woman received life-threatening injuries to her head that were caused by a blunt object, said Professor of Forensic Medicine at the Faculty of Medicine at Jordan University. 

The victim also suffered bruises on different parts of her body, Imad Abdallat, who is also a consultant of forensic medicine at Jordan University Hospital, told The Jordan Times.

Abdallat decided to refer the two brothers to the Criminal Court prosecutor based on the witness’ testimony and the severity of the injury on the victim’s head as stipulated in the forensic report, the second senior judicial source told The Jordan Times.

“The Criminal Court prosecutor has summoned the victim’s family members for questioning and is currently weighing the evidence to determine the kind of charge to level against the two suspects,” the second judicial source said.

Both suspects were ordered detained at a correctional and rehabilitation centre for 15 days pending further investigations.

Meanwhile, the second judicial source added that the victim’s medical condition was stable, but she remains unconscious.

Her points, as stipulated in the Glasgow Coma Scale [GCS], is 10 out of 15, which means she is mostly unconscious, a senior medical official told The Jordan Times on Saturday.

The GCS is the summation of scores for eye, verbal and motor responses, according to the OpenAnesthesia website.

The minimum score is a 3, which indicates deep coma or a brain-dead state. The maximum is 15 which indicates a fully awake patient — the original maximum was 14, but the score has since been modified— the website stated. 

The incident, which went viral over the weekend and became known as “the JUH girl”, sparked outrage among Jordanians and activists who demanded justice for the victim and better protection for domestic violence survivors.