Woman Sentenced to Death in Child Killing Referred to Psychiatric Hospital

An appeals criminal court in El-Mahalla El-Kubra, in Egypt’s Gharbia governorate, has ordered a woman sentenced to death for killing a young girl to be referred to a psychiatric hospital.

The case concerns allegations that the woman lured the child away in a hamlet in the Qutour district before stealing her gold earring and killing her.

The woman is also accused of leaving the girl’s body on the bank of an irrigation canal.

The referral comes as the case is before the appeals court following the death sentence. No details were provided about the scope of the psychiatric assessment or when its findings would be submitted to the court.