Two get death for killing street kids
Two get death for killing street kids
CAIRO: Two leaders of an Egyptian children’s gang were sentenced to death yesterday for raping and killing at least three, and possibly up to 26, street children in Cairo and northern Egypt, a judicial source said.
Five other gang members were given prison terms.
The court in the Nile Delta town of Tanta referred the condemned men’s paperwork to the mufti, the government-appointed interpreter of Islamic law, for approval of the death sentences, generally a formality.
The court will hold a session on July 20 when it is expected to confirm the sentences on Ramadan Abdel Rahman Mansur and Farag Mahmoud Hanata, who are both in their twenties.
Police found three bodies. During questioning the men said they had disposed of bodies by throwing them off moving trains, stuffing them down drains or throwing them in the River Nile, police said.
Several children gave testimony in court. One child said he was sexually assaulted and then thrown off a moving train, but survived.
Egypt has tens of thousands of street children living on the margins of society but reports are rare of them committing serious crimes of violence. – Reuters
