An Egyptian judge was on Tuesday sentenced to death after he was found guilty of murdering his wife. According to VOA, this is the third of such infamous murders to have occurred in the North African nation in the space of two months.
The country’s criminal court referred the judge, identified as Ayman Haggag, to the “Grand Mufti of Egypt.” The referral is said to be a formality in cases involving death sentences. His accomplice, Hussein al-Gharabli, was also sentenced to death.
Authorities last month announced they had brought a “premeditated murder” charge against Haggag and al-Gharabli after they were accused of killing Shaimaa Gamal. The two men are scheduled to appear before a court again on September 11. The Grand Mufti is expected to give the green light for the punishment during the hearing.
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Authorities found Gamal’s body in a secluded villa in June. That was almost three weeks after she was reported missing by her husband. al-Gharabli, who confessed to playing a part in the murder, showed authorities where her body had been disposed of.
The deceased TV presenter’s killing adds up to two other femicides that have occurred in the North African nation in two months.
At the beginning of this August, a man fatally stabbed a female student after she rejected his advances, prosecutors said, per VOA. On June 19, another student, Nayera Ashraf, was also fatally stabbed by a man after she also turned down his advances.
In the wake of Ashraf’s killing, the criminal court petitioned the North African nation’s parliament to make a legal amendment that will make way for the live broadcast of her killer’s execution, Face2Face Africa reported.
The accused man, identified as Mohammed Adel, fatally stabbed Ashraf outside her university. The incident was captured on video and drew outrage in the country.
The court, in the letter to parliament, explained that broadcasting even a snippet of Adel’s execution could serve as a deterrent to others. Executions that are carried out in Egypt are not broadcast. Death by hanging is the North African nation’s preferred choice of execution.
A survey that was released by the United Nations in 2015 revealed that almost eight million Egyptian women had been subjected to violence. A survey by the National Council for Women also determined that 7.9 million Egyptian women “suffer from all forms of violence yearly, and less than 1% of this number report incidents or seek help,” CBS News reported.
The Edraak Foundation also reported that Egyptian women and girls suffered 335 violent crimes between January and April 2022.
