Court upholds five-year sentence in molestation, robbery case

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld an October Criminal Court ruling sentencing a teenager to five years in prison for molesting an elderly woman after breaking into her house in an eastern Amman neighbourhood in July 2017.

The defendant, 19, was convicted of robbery and sexually assaulting the 72-year-old woman while in the process of robbing her home in Marka on July 1, and was handed the maximum sentence.

Court papers said the defendant decided to rob the victim’s house in early July.

“The defendant broke into the victim’s house and took JD200 then headed to a room where she was sleeping,” court transcripts said.

The defendant sat next to the victim, “and placed his hands on her thigh and when she woke up he threatened to kill her”, according to court documents.

The young man then ran outside the house and was arrested by a police patrol that happened to be in the area. 

The Cassation Court ruled that the verdict was correct and the defendant deserved the sentence he received.

The Cassation Court comprised of judges Yassin Abdullat, Mohammad Tarawneh, Naji Zu’bi, Majid Azab and Saeed Mugheid.