Beggar ‘faking disability’ detained in Amman — ministry

AMMAN — The Social Development Ministry’s anti-vagrancy personnel on Wednesday detained a man feigning disability and begging near the Interior Ministry Circle in the capital, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

The man, in his 70s, was using a wheelchair although he does not have a disability, said Maher Kloub, head of the anti-vagrancy department.

He was found in possession of JD90 and taken to a police station, where officers discovered he had previously committed several misdemeanours including trespassing on private property.  

In June, police arrested a man in his 30s who was reportedly begging outside a mosque in Irbid disguised as a woman. 

The beggar was wearing the niqab, a face veil, but police became suspicious of him due to the way he was walking, a security source said at the time. 

Police followed the beggar and discovered he was a man dressed as a woman, so they detained and referred him to the governor for further measures.

Since the beginning of the year, 300 vagrants have been detained, according to official figures cited by Petra. 

Some 20 per cent of beggars in Jordan are Syrian refugees, according to Social Development Ministry Spokesperson Fawaz Ratrout.

He recently told The Jordan Times that 99 per cent of elderly beggars who claim to have disabilities are actually healthy.