Roula Yaacoub's Body Exhumed for Further Investigations

Authorities on Sunday exhumed the body of domestic violence victim Roula Yaacoub at the request of the North's investigative judge Alaa al-Khatib, who has ordered further investigation's into the woman's death.

The body was dug up “in the presence of Halba's priest Father Fouad Makhoul, Raymond Yaacoub – the lawyer hired by the victim's mother – and George Dib, the lawyer hired by the husband,” who is suspected of killing his own wife, state-run National News Agency reported.

Medics and security forces transferred the corpse to a medical center in the North “for further examinations and X-rays aimed at unveiling the circumstances of her death,” NNA said.

Roula's husband K. B. is in jail and her family has accused him of the murder.

“The victim's mother had demanded a dissection of the body from the very first day following her death … but her request fell on deaf ears at that time and she is still hoping that the truth will be fully unveiled despite the fact that long time has passed since her daughter's death,” sources close to the family told NNA.

Judge al-Khatib has ordered further investigations into the case to determine whether the victim had suffered domestic abuse and whether violence was the reason behind her death.

Yaacoub, the 31-year-old mother of five, was found beaten at her home in the town of Halba. She died upon arrival in hospital.

Reports have said that Roula and her children were regularly beaten by her husband.

On July 22, the joint parliamentary committees approved a draft-law on the protection of women from domestic violence, a major step towards helping women become first-class citizens in multi-confessional Lebanon.

If passed by parliament, the law would come under the penal code -- under which cases are referred to a criminal court -- rather than personal status laws, which are ruled on by religious authorities.

Domestic abuse and harassment continue to be taboo in Lebanon, with very few women filing complaints as police generally turn a blind eye and tell them to deal with their problems at home.

From domestic violence to rape to adultery, the rights of women often fall by the wayside, reducing them to second-class citizens.

The committees' approval of the draft-law was seen as a major step towards the liberation of the Lebanese woman who still lacks a lot of rights, including transferring citizenship to her husband if he is a foreigner or to children born of such a union.