Illustrative photo. (Credit: João Sousa)
At around 9 a.m. on Saturday morning, a 33-year-old woman was found unconscious, having been attacked in the hotel where she worked, a security source confirmed to L'Orient-Le Jour.
For the moment, no suspect has been arrested in the suspected femicide. The case is in the hands of the intelligence services, the security source said.
The victim was found unconscious in the hotel's warehouse on Caracas Street. "She started work at 7 a.m. and the man was waiting for her. She was then taken to the American University of Beirut hospital (AUBMC), where she died of a cerebral haemorrhage as she had been violently struck on the head," the security source added.
AUBMC did not respond to our requests for comment.
Reports by local media outlets allege the crime took place at the "Universel Residence" hotel and that the suspect is believed to be a Syrian employee of the hotel. Some media reports also said the victim had been raped.
However, the security source L'Orient-Le Jour contacted refused to confirm these details, saying, "The investigation is still ongoing; we can't confirm anything."
A relative of the family, contacted by telephone, too said he was awaiting the outcome of the investigation and declined to give any further information. "We have nothing further to say. We have nothing else to say; we are waiting for the investigation," he said.
The victim, whose initials were Z.A.M., was buried on Sunday in Sir al-Gharbiyeh, in the southern Lebanese district of Nabatieh.