Slain Yemeni student's family wants death for alleged killer

SANAA, Yemen (Reuters) -- The family of a Yemeni medical student allegedly killed by a Sudanese mass murderer in Yemen called on Saturday for the death penalty against Mohammad Adam Omar, witnesses said.

They said lawyers representing the family of the woman also filed a lawsuit seeking damages against Sanaa University for negligence in employing Omar as a mortuary worker and allowing the murder.

Omar, a 52-year-old Sudanese who worked at the university morgue, was arrested in May on suspicion of raping and killing 16 women. He initially confessed to the murders but later retracted his confession, saying he only had killed two women students, an Iraqi and a Yemeni.

The family of the Iraqi student filed a lawsuit against Sanaa University earlier this month.

The university's representative at court said Saturday that the institution was not responsible for Omar's actions because they were "criminal actions whose consequences he should bear alone."

The court adjourned the hearing until August 27.

The murders have sparked demonstrations by Sanaa University students who demanded an investigation to find out if the suspect had any accomplices.

A total of 21 bodies were found at the campus. German pathologists, called in to determine the genders of the bodies and the dates and means of their deaths, have identified two of those examined as being the Yemeni and Iraqi women.

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