The Minya Criminal Court in Upper Egypt on Saturday sentenced the defendant “Hajar”, 26, to death by hanging for killing her husband and his six children in the village of Dalija.
The defendant, the second wife of the murdered husband Nasser, 48, was found guilty on charges of premeditated murder using the toxic substance chlorfenapyr against her husband and six children in the village of Dalija in the Deir Mawas district of Minya Governorate in July.
She was also convicted in charges of attempted murder of Um Hashem Ahmed Abdel-Fattah, the husband’s first wife, by serving them all poisoned bread.
Hajar attended the session carrying her two-month-old baby. The head of the court allowed her to sit outside the defendant cage as she was carrying the child, surrounded by authorities.
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 their biological mother and the defendant.
Widespread controversy emerged over the cause, with medical rumors and criminal speculation abounding- later investigations revealed that that the incident was a crime orchestrated within the house itself.
