2 brothers charged with attempted murder of 20-year-old sister

AMMAN — The Criminal Court prosecutor on Monday charged two brothers with attempted murder in connection with the reported beating of their 20-year-old sister almost a month ago in Amman, a senior judicial source 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”, according to police officials.

Her family first attempted to claim that she fell and hit her head, but later “one of her brothers admitted to beating her up following a domestic dispute”, a judicial source said.

The brother was questioned and released on bail after his family dropped charges against him, according to the official judicial sources.

However, new evidence surfaced on Saturday and as a result, Amman Attorney General Hassan Abdallat summoned two brothers for questioning, a senior judicial source told The Jordan Times in a recent interview.

“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,” the 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 and suffered bruises on different parts of her body, according to medical sources.

The Criminal Court prosecutor is currently questioning the victim’s family members, a second judicial source said.

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

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.