Woman arrested in Saudi Arabia after Egyptian pharmacist shot dead 'for refusing to hand over medicine'

A woman in Saudi Arabia has been arrested after an Egyptian pharmacist was shot dead for reportedly refusing to hand over medication without a prescription, according to reports.

Pharmacist Ahmed Hatem Madi was shot inside his place of work in Sakaka, northwest Saudi Arabia, after he allegedly declined a request for antibiotics from a woman, Egyptian media reported.

Madi - a father of two - travelled to Saudi Arabia for work and to provide for his family and father who suffers from cancer, his sister told Cairo 24.

"Dr. Ahmed Hatem Madi, from the village of Kafr Danshaway... worked in a pharmacy in the Sakaka region of Saudi Arabia, and he died after being shot… where he worked," the Egyptian ministry of emigration said in a statement on Wednesday.

Egypt's Minister of Immigration Nabila Makram is in contact with Madi's family and the Egyptian embassy will be involved in repatriating the body following investigations into the crime, the statement added.

The Saudi Public Security also confirmed a shooting in the province but withheld the name and nationality of the victim. 

"Police in the al-Jawf area arrested a woman for shooting a person who died from his injures… legal measures were taken against her and she was referred to the public prosecution," they said.

Activists have linked the cases together.

شرطة منطقة الجوف تقبض على امرأة لإطلاقها النار على شخص. pic.twitter.com/VXRSqcKoPc

— الأمن العام (@security_gov) July 13, 2022

The incident has caused uproar on social media, with activists demanding justice for the Egyptian victim as they spread a hashtag translating to “the rights of the pharmacist Ahmad must return".

Egyptian MP Mustafa Bakry also took to Twitter to condemn the incident.

Many Egyptians have left the country to work for work, as the Egyptian economy flounders.

In March, the Egyptian pound shed around 17 percent of its value against the US dollar, following a rise in inflation amid mounting hardships.