20-year-jail term for Bangladeshi worker who chocked elderly employer

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld an April Criminal Court ruling sentencing a Bangladeshi domestic helper to 20 years in prison after convicting her of murdering her 80-year-old employer in Madaba in April 2017.  

The court declared the defendant guilty of chocking the victim with her own scarf while at their home on April 5 and handed her the maximum punishment.

Court papers said that the defendant had arrived to the Kingdom 45 days before the incident to take care of the elderly woman since “she was old and sick and needed a lot of care”.

On the day of the incident, the victim called on the defendant to help her put her scarf over her head “which bothered the domestic helper since she was constantly asking her to do stuff. She decided to tie the woman’s scarf firmly over her neck and left,” the court maintained.

The following day, the victim’s grandchildren went to wake her up but she did not respond. They rushed her to the hospital where she was declared dead upon arrival, according to court papers.

The defendant contested the Criminal Court’s ruling, charging that the victim had died of illness "because she was old and used a walker”.

The defendant also “claimed that she was tortured to confess to the murder”, court transcripts said.

However, the higher court stated that the pathologists’ report indicated that the victim had died of strangulation.

The Court of Cassation also stated that the defendant “did not provide any evidence to corroborate her torture claims”, adding that the Criminal Court’s ruling was accurate and the woman deserved the sentence she received.

 The Court of Cassation judges were Mohammad Ibrahim, Naji Zubi, Yassin Abdullat, Bassim Mubeidin and Saeed Mugheid.