Egypt sentences to death man for femicide of 15-year-old cousin, awaits Grand Mufti approval

In yet another shocking femicide incident in Egypt, a criminal court sentenced on Monday a young man's case to the Grand Mufti Sheikh Dr Shawki Ibrahim Allam for review over killing his 15-year-old cousin after failing to rape her back in February, local news outlets reported.

According to media reports, after failing to rape her, the perpetrator, named Andro, noticed surveillance cameras in the flat and then killed her, attempted to break the cameras, and then escaped the scene.

The victim, Amal, is dubbed by the media as "the Barageel Girl," named after the Barageel village in Giza province, west of the Capital Cairo, in which the crime took place. 

Investigations led the authorities to Andro who, eventually, confessed and the prosecutor referred him to a criminal court.

The court is currently waiting for the approval of the Grand Mufti tasked with religious edicts, even though the victim and the perpetrator are Christian.

Usually, Mufti's approval in such cases is taken for granted.

The verdict can still be appealed one time before a higher court.

Over the past months, Egypt has witnessed a wave of femicide incidents that shocked Egyptians, starting with the murder of 21-year-old Naira Ashraf outside the university campus in Mansoura city, northwest of Cairo, in June for rejecting to marry the perpetrator Mohamed Adel.

Almost two weeks later, Adel has been sentenced to death in the fastest murder trial in Egypt’s history.