‘JUH girl’ case remains open

AMMAN — The Criminal Court prosecutor office on Monday said that the case against two brothers who were charged last month with attempted murder in connection with the reported beating of their 20-year-old sister almost a month ago in Amman, remains open pending further developments, 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.

“Although the two brothers are charged by the Criminal Court prosecutor, the investigation file is still open pending any development related to the victim’s health condition,” the senior judicial source told The Jordan Times.

The victim’s 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 senior 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 and as a result and investigators summoned two brothers for questioning.

“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, the two brothers, aged 25 and 26, were arrested and charged.

Investigators also depended on a forensic report that 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.

The senior judicial source told The Jordan Times that both brothers are still detained pending the outcome of the investigation.

The incident, which went viral in January 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.