Authorities prepare to level charges against perpetrator of domestic attack in Jerash

AMMAN — Authorities are still waiting on the release of medical reports to determine the charges they will level against a 31-year-old man who allegedly gouged his wife's eyes in Jerash last week, senior official sources said.

The 25-year-old woman, a mother of three, was reportedly left 100 per cent blind following a domestic dispute with her husband at their home on November 6.

"The husband gouged the victim's eyes and she was rushed to a nearby hospital where attending doctors ruled that the woman had lost her vision entirely as a result of the assault," a source told The Jordan Times on Saturday.

The woman is still recovering at King Hussein Medical Centre, official sources said.

"Once the medical reports are out, the case will be sent to the Criminal Court's Prosecution Office in Amman for further legal action," a senior judicial source told The Jordan Times.

The source added that the prosecution office "is very concerned about the case and will investigate the incident thoroughly to determine the appropriate charges for the suspect".

A second official told The Jordan Times that the victim and her husband had constant marital problems and she ended up returning to her family's home for several days. 

On the day of the incident, the second source told The Jordan Times, the woman returned home and shortly afterwards "her husband drew a knife and threatened to kill her and her children".

The source added that the husband allegedly jumped on his wife, “pinned her to the ground and gouged her eyes with the knife”. 

The husband then headed to his neighbour and informed him of what he had done, while his wife crawled outside looking for help from other neighbours, the source added.

 The victim's husband was ordered to be detained on Thursday by the Jerash Criminal Court prosecutor, according to the judicial source.

 The charges could range from attempted murder to the crime of causing a permanent disability, the judicial source said, adding that the prison term for causing a permanent disability could range from five to 10 years.

The incident sent shockwaves across the Kingdom, with many Jordanians taking to social media to express their anger and disbelief and calling for the suspect to be given a stiff punishment. 

Mizan Law Group Executive Director Eva Abu Halaweh told The Jordan Times: “We visited her and we will provide her with psychological and legal support.”

"We spoke with her and she will not drop charges, and wants him to get the most severe punishment possible. We will file a case against her husband on her behalf," Abu Halaweh added. 

Meanwhile, the Jordanian National Commission for Women (JNCW) on Sunday called for a sit-in in front of the Prime Ministry this coming Saturday under the theme "Enough”.

"We should stop voicing our objections via social media and instead we should take concrete action to say no to gender-based violence," the JNCW statement said.

The statement added:  "We call on every Jordanian who cares about our true societal values and basic human rights to join us to express their rejection of all forms of violence."

Sisterhood is Global Institute (SIGI) on Sunday issued a statement condemning the episode as an "ugly incident in Jerash that caused a wife to allegedly lose her sight by her husband".

"This is a monstrous crime against humanity that the Kingdom has not witnessed in a long time," the SIGI statement said.

Secretary General of the JNCW Women Salma Nims also condemned the incident in a statement she published on her Facebook page and other media outlets.

"This is an inhuman and grave incident that was practiced against a Jordanian woman… [it] is a form of a patriarchal society that is exercising its authority against women," Nims said in her statement.