The Qena Criminal Court in Egypt has referred the case of a housewife to the mufti for a religious opinion on her execution for murdering her brother-in-law's children due to jealousy towards her sister-in-law.
The events date back to February 2019, when security forces in Qena received a report about the body of one-and-a-half-year-old Al-Baraa Hamdatu Abdul-Nagi found submerged in a livestock trough attached to his family's home in the village of Al-Zawaida in Nagada. The family did not accuse anyone of the murder at that time, but information received by the authorities revealed that two years prior, the body of his older brother, Ali, aged two, was found in the Zawaida canal. This led Qena security to form a research team and interrogate all household members to clarify the situation, according to Egyptian media.
Investigations revealed that the perpetrator of both incidents was Asmaa A.A., 24 years old, the wife of the uncles of the children, motivated by jealousy towards their mother and mistreatment from their father.
The accused confessed to investigators, stating: "I was living in torment at my husband's house with his brothers, and the older brother and the father of the two children, who had returned from working in Kuwait, would beat me, treating me like a maid, while my husband did nothing, especially since his older brother owned everything."
She continued her confession: "I decided to take revenge on them by killing their first child, Ali, who was two years old, hoping they would feel remorse and give me back part of my rights. I put the child in a sack and threw him in the canal, then I helped his parents search for him, and when they found the body, I cried the loudest. Things calmed down for a while, but after they had their second child, Al-Baraa, they returned to mistreating and hitting me, and I found a golden opportunity to kill the second child when I saw him sleeping in the livestock yard. I quickly put his head in the livestock drinking trough until he breathed his last."
The case has been referred to the Qena Criminal Court, which has decided to send the accused's papers to the noble mufti for a religious opinion on executing her.
