CAIRO: A woman stabbed to death in a German court was an Egyptian who had sued her attacker after he insulted her for wearing the Islamic headscarf, local newspapers reported on Friday.
Marwa Aal-Sherbini, 32, who was killed in a court in Dresden on Wednesday, was the wife of Egyptian academic Elwi Ali Okaz who was also hurt in the incident and is now in critical condition in hospital, the state-owned Al-Akhbar reported.
Husband Okaz was in Germany on a scholarship through Menufiya University’s institute of Genetic Engineering. He is still unaware that his wife had died.
The attacker stabbed Sherbini “shortly before she was to give evidence in an appeal lodged by the man against a conviction for insulting her over wearing the hijab, said the state-owned Egyptian Gazette.
The 28-year-old man, identified only as Axel W., was overpowered and was being investigated for manslaughter over the killing of the woman, a spokesman for the Dresden prosecutor’s office said.
Axel W. was previously found guilty and fined ?2,800 in civil compensation for calling the victim a “terrorist in August 2008 in a Dresden park because she was wearing a headscarf.
Magdi Al-Sayed, press officer at the German embassy in Cairo, said the case was isolated and did not reflect German attitude towards Muslims.
“It is a criminal act. It has nothing to do with persecution against Muslims, Sayed told the Gazette.
The Minister of Higher Education Hani Helal has given orders that travel arrangements to Germany for the families of both victims be facilitated. -Daily News Egypt with additional reporting by AFP