2 men jailed for molesting, robbing woman

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld an October Criminal Court ruling, sentencing two men to prison terms ranging from six to four years in prison after convicting them of molesting an Asian woman in her apartment in Amman in January 2019.

The court declared the defendants guilty also of theft and for posing as Anti-Narcotics Department (AND) agents on January 24 and handed them the maximum sentences.

However, the court decided to reduce the sentences to four and six years in prison, respectively, for the two defendants as the victim dropped charges against them.

Court papers said the defendants knocked on the victim’s door and claimed to be AND agents.

“The victim allowed them inside her apartment and they ordered her to undress claiming that they wanted to search her,” according to the court transcripts.

The two men grabbed her private parts then went to her room claiming that they wanted to conduct a search operation for illegal narcotics, according to court papers.

“The pair searched her purse and took JD200, her two mobile phones then left the apartment,” court papers said.

The victim realised that the two men were not security officers “so she screamed and yelled at them but they were gone”, court documents said.

The woman immediately notified the police and the two men were arrested, the court papers added.

The Criminal Court’s attorney general asked the higher court to uphold the sentence.

The higher court ruled that the Criminal Court proceedings were accurate and that the defendants were given the appropriate punishment.

The Court of Cassation was headed by Judge Mohammad Ibrahim and included judges Saeed Mugheid, Majid Azab, Hamad Ghzawi and Ahmad Qatawneh.