An Australian man is currently standing trial for allegedly killing his pregnant lover because she refused to abort their preborn child.
Prosecutors say Hassan W Jabbie, 52, murdered 36-year-old Janet Dweh in her Perth home in October of 2021. Dweh was eight months pregnant at the time she was brutally beaten 30 times with a claw hammer. Both she and the child, a boy who was to be named Jayden, died from their wounds. Western Australia’s homicide laws do not recognize preborn children as crime victims, which means Jabbie is only being charged for Dweh’s death, despite the fact that two lives were lost.
Jabbie was arrested days after the incident, when police found voice messages he sent her, in which he called her a prostitute and a harlot and told her to abort the baby. Jabbie, who was married but separated from his wife at the time, later told police during interviews that he had wanted Dweh to terminate the pregnancy because he was “technically” married and “it would look bad.” He also disclosed to an undercover police officer where clothing and the murder weapon, which both contained his DNA, were buried.
READ: Man who killed pregnant sister and her husband gets three life sentences
The defense contends that Jabbie wasn’t sure the baby was his, and therefore wouldn’t have felt the need to murder Dweh.
“It makes no sense he would kill her to prevent her from giving birth to a son that may or may not be his,” said defense lawyer Sean Dworcan, who maintains that Jabbie was set up.
Disturbingly, there have been numerous instances of pregnant women who have been killed in domestic violence situations. Homicide remains a leading cause of death among pregnant women, and women are more likely to be murdered during pregnancy than they are to die from the three leading obstetric causes of death (high blood pressure disorders, hemorrhage, and sepsis).
Dweh left behind three other young children at the time of her death.
