The Minya Criminal Court decided on Saturday to refer the case of a woman who killed her husband and six children through poison to the Grand Mufti for an opinion on her execution.
The court set a November 8th session to issue the verdict, with her being detained until that date.
A referral to the Mufti is required in the Egyptian court system ahead of any death sentences even though the mufti’s opinion is advisory, not binding.
The defendant, Hajar, 26, the second wife of murdered husband Nasser, 48, is being tried on charges of premeditated murder using the toxic substance chlorfenapy against her husband and six children in the village of Dalija in the Deir Mawas district of Minya Governorate in July.
She also faces charges of attempted murder of Um Hashem Ahmed Abdel-Fattah, the husband’s first wife, using the same poison, by serving them all poisoned bread.
The case, dating to July, began with mysterious symptoms that struck the family’s children one by one, progressing from unexplained fatigue to successive deaths.
The six children and their father died within just two weeks, excluding the mother and stepmother (the defendant).
Widespread controversy emerged over the cause, with medical rumors and criminal speculation swirling around. Later investigations revealed that that the incident was a crime orchestrated within the house itself.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
