Suspect arrested over rape and murder of child in Sahab

AMMAN — Police on Thursday announced the arrest of an Arab national in connection with the alleged sexual assault 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.

“We were able to locate the suspect after questioning several workers at the construction sites and he became our prime suspect,” Police Spokesperson Lt. Col. Amer Sartawi said.

The suspect claimed that he “attempted to sexually assault the child then placed a pillow on his face and killed him,” Sartawi told The Jordan Times.

 “The suspect informed investigators that he dumped the boy’s body in a small pool in attempt to mislead investigators and make it look like the child had drowned,” Sartawi added.

But investigators became suspicious that the child “did not drown” and decided to open an investigation into the incident, which led to the arrest of the suspect, the police official added.

A post-mortem conducted at the National Institute of Forensic Medicine by a team of pathologists confirmed the authorities suspicions that there was foul play and that the victim was subjected to sexual assault, a senior medical source told The Jordan Times in a recent interview.

“The victim was unfortunately bruised with some fractured bones in the neck and was subjected to sexual assault. We ruled the cause of death by asphyxiation,” the senior medical source said.

 The Criminal Court prosecutor is expected to start questioning the suspect and other witnesses, a senior judicial source said.

“The Criminal Court prosecutor will question the suspect and escort him to reenact the crime before leveling the appropriate charges agaisnt him,” the judicial source told The Jordan Times.