6 people sentenced to death in Qena, including 3 police officers

Qena Criminal Court sentenced six people to death on Monday, including three police officers, reported the state-owned MENA news website. The sentencing comes after the men were initially convicted for murder on June 11 over a fight between two families in Awlad Amr in the Qena governorate in Upper Egypt, which resulted in the deaths of six people.

Among those sentenced was a policeman from the Luxor Security Directorate, two conscripts from the Qena Security Directorate and three civilians, one of whom was sentenced in absentia. Five other defendants were acquitted in the case.

The incident dates back to November 2013, after a tuk-tuk driver hit a female pedestrian, sparking a fight between her family and that of the driver. The driver was seriously injured by the woman’s family, and returned for revenge with members of his own family, which included policemen. State-owned newspaper Al-Ahram reported that when the group arrived they began “shooting randomly,” leaving five dead and two injured, one of whom later died of his wounds. Seven men were arrested over the fight, including the policemen and the driver.

Incidents of fights between families resulting in deaths are common in Egypt. On June 7, three men were killed in the Sohag governorate, in a fight between two families. The reason for the clash is still unknown, although a seven-year-old boy was among the injured, after being shot in the chest.

On May 25, a 25-year-old woman was killed in Cairo’s Moqattam district by police who had attended the scene to break up a fight between two families. Although the fight was reported to be over when the woman was shot, it had involved around 50 people wielding knives and guns with rubber bullets.

In April 2014, clashes between two families in Aswan lasted for three days, leaving 26 people dead and more than 50 injured. The incident was a result of a long-running feud between two families, and was sparked by insults and the harassment of a young woman belonging to one of the families by men from the other.