Search under way for suspect in rape and murder of child

AMMAN — Police on Tuesday said they were searching for suspects in connection with the rape and murder of a child in eastern Amman last week.

The body of the eight-year-old victim was found floating in a small pool at a construction site in Sahab on Sunday, Police Spokesperson Lt. Col. Amer Sartawi said.

“The victim’s body was immediately transferred to the National Institute of Forensic Medicine [NIFM] for an autopsy because our investigators suspected foul play," Sartawi told The Jordan Times over the phone.

A post-mortem conducted at the NIFM by a team of pathologists headed by Ahmad Bani Hani and including Issa Gheishan and Raed Momani confirmed that the child was subjected to sexual assault, a senior medical source said.

“The victim was unfortunately subjected to a sexual assault and we ruled the cause of death by asphyxiation. He has been dead for at least three days,” the senior medical source told The Jordan Times.

The source added that forensic experts also detected “bruises on the victim’s body and some fractured bones in the neck”.

“The pathologists sent blood, tissue samples and swabs from different parts of the victim to the criminal lab for a DNA analysis,” the senior medical source added.

Sartawi added that police formed a special police force tasked with investigating the incident.

Criminal Court Prosecutor Tayseer Bani Khalid is currently investigating the incident, a senior judicial source said.

“Bani Khalid is waiting for lab results and further police investigations that will hopefully help him with the incident,” the senior judicial source told The Jordan Times.