The Minya Criminal Court will issue its final verdict on 12 April in the case of a police officer, Captain Ahmed Anwar, accused of beating 36-year-old housewife Mervat Abdel Fattah to death while searching her house in 2008.
Anwar had been sentenced already to one year in prison, to the dismay of Abdel Fattah’s family and local rights groups. Abdel Fattah, who was pregnant at the time of the raid, died within ten minutes of being allegedly kicked in the stomach and assaulted by Anwar and four other police officers in the presence of her eight-year-old son.
Anwar’s lawyer, however, said the woman suffered from heart disease–an assertion that was verified in a forensics report–and did not die from beating. The officer, for his part, said he did not touch her.
The city of Minya saw angry demonstrations on the day of Abdel Salam’s death. At the time, police arrested at least 13 protesters who were later charged with inciting riots.
Translated from the Arabic Edition.
