Court upholds 5-year sentence in rape case

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld an April Criminal Court ruling sentencing a man to five years in prison after convicting him of attempting to rape a married woman in Amman in May 2020.

The defendant was convicted of sneaking into the 20-year-old victim’s house and attempting to sexually assault her in an eastern Amman neighbourhood on May 20.

The 21-year-old defendant, who did not appeal his verdict, was handed the maximum punishment by the Criminal Court’s tribunal. 

Court papers said the defendant was known to the victim because he was her mother’s neighbour and they were residents in the same area.

On the day of the incident, the court maintained, the defendant knocked on the victim’s door and pretended to ask for her husband.

“When the defendant learnt he was not home, he asked the victim for a glass of water,” according to the court transcripts. 

The victim went to get a glass of water and the defendant followed her inside, the court added.

“The defendant forced the victim to the bedroom and attempted to rape her but was unable to because of her resistance and screaming,” according to the court papers.

The victim’s neighbour heard her screams and knocked on the door, forcing the defendant to escape the house, thinking it was the woman’s husband, the court stated.

The Criminal Court’s attorney general asked the higher court to uphold the verdict against the defendant.

The Court of Cassation ruled that the verdict was correct and the defendant deserved the ruling he had received. 

The Cassation Court comprised of judges Mohammad Ibrahim, Mohammad Khashashneh, Nayef Samarat, Qassem Dughmi and Hammad Ghzawi.