Man arrested for alleged murder of cousin over ‘family feud’

AMMAN — Police on Tuesday arrested a man who allegedly killed his cousin over a family feud in Naour earlier in the day, official sources said.

The 31-year-old victim was reportedly shot in front of his house shortly after midnight on Tuesday, a senior official source and Public Security Department Spokesperson Lt. Col. Amer Sartawi said.

“The suspect fled and was arrested by police a few hours later,” the senior source told The Jordan Times.

According to initial confessions by the suspect, the source maintained, “he shot his relative because of a family feud that escalated a few hours before the murder.”

The suspect went to the victim’s home and asked him to come out and “the minute he appeared from his house he shot him once in the face and left,” the source added.

A postmortem, conducted by pathologists Issa Gheishan and Seif Hamarneh, concluded that the victim died of a single bullet that penetrated his face and exited his skull, a medical source told The Jordan Times.

Following the murder, “the victim’s family reportedly set the suspect’s house ablaze in retaliation,” according to the Sartawi.

The spokesperson told The Jordan Times that police forces “immediately intervened and secured an atwa between the two families”.

“We have brought the situation under control and prevented any further escalations,” Sartawi said.

The importance of atwa, according to tribal traditions, is derived from its ability to obligate both parties to refrain from violence until a final reconciliation is reached.

The man was ordered detained for 14 days at a correctional and rehabilitation centre by Madaba Criminal Court Prosecutor Muwafaq Jbour pending further investigations.