Girl allegedly burnt by her father dies

AMMAN — A 13-year-old girl who was reportedly burnt by her father last week, died in hospital over the weekend, official sources told The Jordan Times on Saturday.

The victim’s 46-year-old father, a security guard, reportedly set her ablaze at their home in Jabal Qusour on December 12.

“The victim died on Thursday at Al Bashir Hospital as a result of burns on 75 per cent of her body,” Public Security Department Spokesperson Lt. Col. Amer Sartawi and a senior judicial source said.

Kais Koussous, head of the National Institute of Forensic Medicine, said a post-mortem showed that the teenager died as a result of the burns.

“Usually burns on over 40 per cent of the body for someone the victim’s age will eventually lead to death and this is what happened in this case,” Koussous added.

Criminal Court Prosecutor Issam Haddidi, who is handling the case, is expected to level murder charges against the father, a senior judicial source said.

“The suspect will be summoned from the holding centre by Haddidi in the next few days to be informed of the new charges,” the senior judicial source said.

The suspect ran away from the house and was later arrested by the police, Sartawi told The Jordan Times on the day of the incident.

In his initial testimony in front of Criminal Court Prosecutor Salah Taleb, who was on duty on the day of the murder, the suspect said he had no intention of murdering his daughter.

The suspect claimed that his daughter went missing from home for a few hours and when she returned he reportedly slapped her on the face to discipline her and she fell on the kerosene heater and her body caught fire.

The suspect claimed that he wrapped her in a blanket in an attempt to extinguish the fire and that his brothers, who lived in the same building, rushed to help him.

However, a senior official source told The Jordan Times recently that the girl told police in hospital before her condition deteriorated that “her father set her ablaze”.

The judicial source said the suspect informed investigators that he was tried and acquitted at the Criminal Court in 2008 on charges of burning and killing another daughter.

“Haddidi has sent a memo to the Criminal Court to review the old verdict and if it was the same method as this incident, he will include it as evidence so that the court can issue a stiff sentence against him,” the judicial source said.

The security guard had divorced his wife, and the only other resident in their house is his 16-year-old son, who was not at home when the incident occurred.