An Egyptian court sentenced a judge to death for murdering his wife, according to the judiciary, the case forms the country’s third high-profile femicide case in a span of two months.
The criminal court decided to “refer the judge who murdered TV presenter Shaimaa Gamal and his accomplice to Egypt’s Grand Mufti” – a standard procedure in death penalty cases.
The public prosecutor’s office submitted that the judicial officer in question, Ayman Haggag, and his accomplice, businessman Hussein al-Gharabli, had been charged with “premeditated murder” of his wife.
Gamal’s body was discovered in a remote villa in June, nearly three weeks after her husband reported her missing, thanks to a tip from Gharabli, who admitted to his involvement in the crime.
Gamal’s murder is the third to have sparked outrage in the conservative North African country in recent months.
Nayera Ashraf, a college student, was stabbed to death on June 19 in Mansoura, north of Cairo, by a man whose advances she had turned down. A video of the attack went viral on social media.
Mohamed Adel was found guilty after confessing to the crime in court and sentenced to death in a highly publicized trial.
