JORDAN: FATHER SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR RAPING DAUGHTER ‘288 TIMES’

September 30, 2012: In Jordan, the Criminal Court sentenced a 49-year-old man to death for molesting and raping his daughter in an Amman neighbourhood.
The defendant was found guilty of molesting his daughter, who is now 17 years old, from the age of nine and raping her 288 times from the age of 12, and sentenced to death.
The daughter became pregnant at the age of 13 as a result of the rapes and delivered a baby boy in March 2009.
How the court determined the precise number of incidents was not clear from the documents.
On October 3, 2008, the victim informed her older brother and cousin that she might be pregnant and revealed that her father had been raping her.
A DNA test conducted by the criminal lab indicated that the defendant was the biological father of the child, who was sent to a social care centre shortly after his birth, the court added.
The defendant had pleaded not guilty to the charges in earlier court sessions.
The defendant was referred to the National Institute of Psychiatric Medicine for a psychological evaluation, during which doctors determined that he was sane and fit to stand trial after examining him for two months.
The tribunal comprised judges Ahmad Atoun, Mohammad Khatib and Mohammad Ammarin.
The verdict will be automatically reviewed by the Cassation Court within 30 days. (Sources: jordantimes.com, 02/10/2012)