Alleged Wife Beater, Karam Bazi, is Still a Free Man

(Photo via Facebook.com)

The husband of Roula Yaacoub – the 31-year-old woman who was pronounced dead on Sunday after being found beaten and unconscious at her home following a domestic dispute – has not been charged with her death, and has retained custody of his five daughters.

Neighbors told MTV News, that Karam Bazi “constantly beat” his wife Roula and her children, who range in age from 10 months to 12-years-old.

Separately, neighborstold LBCI news on Monday they heard the couple fighting Sunday evening and even heard Roula scream for help. She was pronounced dead shortly after being transported to the Youssef Medical Center.

Police are currently investigating the incident, pending the results of an autopsy report.

On Tuesday, Yaacoub’s family blocked the main road in Halba, a village in the northern city of Akkar, to demand the immediate arrest of their son-in-law. They also demanded that Roula’s body be buried in her hometown. Meantime, rumors circulated, according to the family, that local politicians were interfering to help Bazi avoid arrest.

The body has since been handed over to the family, but Bazi remains free of any charges.

According to the NGO KAFA, since 2010, 26 women have been killed at the hands of a male relative. The organization, which fights violence and exploitation, also says it pursued 425 cases of domestic violence between 2011 and 2012.


A photo found on Roula Yaccoub’s Facebook page shows the 33-year-old woman surrounded by her five children.