Members of Lebanon's Internal Security Forces. (Credit: Hassan Ammar/AFP)
BEIRUT — Lebanese Internal Security Forces (ISF) announced Monday that it arrested a Lebanese woman who allegedly poisoned her husband to death.
The woman, in her 40s, allegedly killed her husband on Aug. 20 and was arrested on Sept. 8 in Aley.
According to the ISF statement, the victim, a Lebanese man in his late forties was reported missing by his father, which prompted police to launch an investigation.
The police took the victim's wife's testimony, in which she asserted that her husband had left with an unidentified person, probably to Syria. She said she was used to him leaving for many days at a time.
However, police localized the missing man's mobile phone GPS signal, which appeared to still be around the Basatin area in Aley. Police then searched the couple's house and found that a mattress was missing from one of the rooms and some remains of it were scattered around the house.
The wife then became a suspect in the investigation and was detained.
During her interrogation, she eventually confessed to killing her husband. She reportedly said she was having an affair with her husband's friend and that her husband suspected it.
According to the police statement, the woman then decided to kill her husband, in agreement with her lover.
"On Aug. 20, 2023, she committed the crime by inserting a large amount of Lannate poison into her husband's mulukhiyah meal."
Lannate is an insecticide often used in Lebanon to poison stray dogs.
"After confirming his death, she transported the body to Ras al-Jabal in Aley with the help of F.A. in her car," the statement continued.
The ISF later found a man's body in Aley and confirmed that it belonged to the victim after performing DNA analysis.
ISF failed to arrest F.A. as he supposedly fled to Syria through the town of Ain Aata. However, "those involved in his smuggling operation were arrested."
Efforts are currently ongoing to locate and arrest F.A.