Story By: Ana Marjanovic, Sub-Editor: Michael Leidig, Agency: Newsflash
A man accused of strangling his ex with a hookah pipe as their horrified son looked on is facing manslaughter charges.
Accused Mohamad K., 35, is said to have choked his estranged wife barehanded before throttling her with the pipe tube at her home in Elberfeld, Germany.
He then fled, say prosecutors, leaving their traumatised two-year-old son in the apartment with his mother’s dying body.

He was later found by a family friend cowering over her on the floor.
The trial of the German-Lebanese defendant began at the Regional Court of Wuppertal, North-Rhine Westphalia.
He is accused of murdering victim Amal F., 33, on 7th October, 2021.

A friend of Amal later found her unconscious, with her son – whose name was withheld by the authorities – huddled over her body.
She called an emergency ambulance but when paramedics arrived she was already dead.
Mohamad K. showed no resistance when he was arrested in Euskirchen, a 90-minute drive from his ex’s apartment.

Amal had separated from Mohamad K. a few weeks before her death and he moved out of the family apartment.
Authorities refused to say whether he had entered the flat by force or had been let in by his ex-wife.
Prosecutors said Amal had reported Mohamad to the police for assault three months before her death.

She refused to accept offers of support for victims of violence – despite having suffered a broken nose.
Prosecutors said Amal had been choked by hand before the attacker applied the hose of a shisha pipe.
The defendant – who has been in preventive custody since his arrest – declined to make a statement in court.

His defence attorney insisted his client is innocent.
He claimed his DNA was not found on the hookah or on the victim’s body and said another unidentified person’s DNA was discovered.
The lawyer added that footprint examinations would rule out that his client had killed Amal.

The victim’s son was taken into care after her killing.
Amal was mother to a further three children from a previous marriage. They live with their father in Berlin.
The judge appealed to Mohamad K. to rethink his decision to remain silent despite the “detailed” indictment.

The trial continues. A verdict is expected by the end of June.