Man charged with premeditated murder of his wife

AMMAN — The Criminal Court prosecutor on Monday charged a    construction worker with  the premeditated murder of his wife following a domestic dispute in Balqa Governorate earlier in the day, official sources said.

The victim was reportedly beaten up and strangled by her husband at their home, Police Spokesperson Lt. Col. Amer Sartawi told The Jordan Times.

“Police received a complaint that a woman was found dead at her home, but when we arrived, we discovered that she was the victim of a homicide and that her husband was the perpetrator,” Sartawi said.

In his initial testimony to investigators, the suspect claimed that he engaged in “a heated argument” with his wife, whom he married two months ago, and tied her up with a rope, a senior judicial source said.

"The suspect confessed to tying up his wife with a rope and to beating her with an iron bar," the senior judicial source told The Jordan Times.

The suspect then noticed that his wife stopped moving and he tried to revive her, but failed, the judicial source added.

The suspect, who is in his 30s, went to the nearest police station and turned himself in, according to the senior judicial source.

Criminal prosecutor Isaq Abu Awad ordered that the suspect be detained at a correctional and rehabilitation centre for 15 days pending further investigation, the senior judicial source said.

Abu Awad is also expected to summon witnesses to learn more about the incident, the senior judicial source added.

Meanwhile, Solidarity Is Global Institute (SIGI) issued a statement on Monday calling for stiffer punishments for perpetrators of gender-based violence.

The advocacy organisation pointed out in its statement that since the beginning of 2021, 13 females were killed in 12 familial murders.

In 2020, SIGI said it counted 21 family murders committed against females, while the number of homicides against women in 2019 was 20.

SIGI renewed its call to establish a national observatory that would include all relevant governmental and non-governmental entities to draft the needed strategies that would work as a deterrence to gender-based murders.

The national observatory would also include data on the victims, the suspects, the motives, the areas where it was committed as well as other relevant information that would help officials and relevant entities in analysing and making use of the available data, SIGI added.