Cops have arrested a German-Lebanese man for strangling his ex to death with a hookah hose and leaving their two-year-old son alone with her dead body.

A neighbour who had heard screams found Amal F., 33, unconscious in her apartment in the municipal subdivision of Elberfeld in the city of Wuppertal in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia on the afternoon of Thursday, 7th October.

Her two-year-old son was found huddled over her body. The neighbour called the emergency services, but when paramedics arrived on the scene, the victim was dead.

The suspect, who is the victim’s ex-partner and the father of the boy, was arrested in the town of Euskirchen, around a one-and-a-half-hour drive from the crime scene, in the early hours of Friday, 8th October.

He has not been named, but he is said to be a 35-year-old German-Lebanese national.

According to reports, he and the victim had separated a few weeks prior to the crime. He had moved out of the apartment, but gained access on the day of the crime with a spare key.

He reportedly did not resist arrest.

According to local media, the victim had reported the suspect to the police for assault in July. Despite reportedly suffering a broken nose, the victim is said to have refused a subsequent offer of assistance from the victim support services.

The police say the victim was strangled to death with a hookah hose, and it was not reported if her son, who was unharmed and was subsequently taken into care, witnessed the crime.

The suspect was due in court on Saturday, 9th October. However, the decision on his preventive detention has not been reported.