Woman gets 20-year prison term for murdering 2-year-old stepson

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld a November 2019 Criminal Court ruling, sentencing a woman to 20 years in prison for murdering her two-year-old stepson in October 2018.

The Criminal Court declared the defendant guilty of murdering the child following a brawl with her husband in early October and handed her the maximum sentence.

The victim died after being placed in boiling water in a bathtub, court papers said.

According to court papers, the defendant was asked by her husband to take care of his two children, aged four and the victim, from another woman he divorced.

“The defendant would often beat up the children and mistreat them,” court papers said.

On the day of the incident, October 1, the court maintained, the defendant engaged in “a heated argument” with her husband and decided to “take revenge by killing the victim”.

"The defendant prepared boiled water, poured it into the bathtub and placed the victim inside it,” court documents said.

The victim started screaming and was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he was admitted with first-degree burns, court papers added.

After two weeks, the child succumbed to burns at the hospital, the court stated.

The defendant contested the verdict through her lawyer, arguing that she never confessed to murdering the victim.

“The court also depended on contradictory statements by some witnesses and the court cannot base its ruling on doubts,” the defence argued.

Meanwhile, the Criminal Court’s attorney general asked the higher court to uphold the 20-year sentence.

The higher court ruled that the Criminal Court proceedings had been accurate and that the defendant was given the appropriate punishment.

The Cassation Court bench comprised judges Mohammad Ibrahim, Naji Zubi, Bassem Mubeidin, Yassin Abdullat and Saeed Mugheid.