Syrian charged with premeditated murder of his wife

AMMAN — A 34-year-old Syrian was charged with premeditated murder on Tuesday in connection with the stabbing death of his Syrian wife in an east Amman neighbourhood a day earlier, official sources said.

The suspect, a construction worker, reportedly confessed in front of Criminal Court Prosecutor Mohammad Daradkeh to stabbing his wife to death following a heated argument at their home in the Sahab area, a senior judicial source said.

“The suspect told Daradkeh that he wanted to move from Sahab to a different location but his wife refused,” the judicial source told The Jordan Times.

The suspect told the criminal prosecutor that “he had several arguments with his wife over the past year-and-a-half, the period they resided in Sahab, about moving out of the area but she refused,” the source said, quoting initial questioning of the suspect.

On Monday night, the source maintained, “the argument on the same issue became heated and the suspect claimed that his wife cursed him so he became enraged, grabbed a kitchen knife and stabbed her repeatedly with it until he made sure she was dead.”

The victim is survived by five children, including two from a previous marriage, a second source told The Jordan Times.

“The suspect was married before and her first husband died a few years ago,” the second source said.

Daradkeh is expected to summon witnesses and the couple's children today (Wednesday) to learn more about the incident, according to the judicial source.

In the meantime, Daradkeh issued orders for the suspect to be detained at the Jweideh Correctional and Rehabilitation Centre for 15 days pending further investigation into the incident, the source added.