Video: Wife jailed for a month after assaulting husband inside court

Cairo: An Egyptian court has sentenced a woman to one month in prison after convicting her of assaulting her husband inside the Tanta Courts Complex, in an altercation that was filmed by bystanders and later widely circulated on social media.

The case was heard last Sunday after the woman was accused of hitting, insulting and verbally abusing her husband and tearing his clothes inside the courthouse.

She denied the accusations, saying instead that her husband had assaulted her during a dispute linked to years of marital and legal disagreements between them.

The husband told investigators that the couple had been married since 2003 and had three children. He said serious disagreements began about three years ago and that he left the marital home on September 3, 2022, moving to Cairo because of his work.

He said a series of legal disputes followed, including cases involving divorce on grounds of harm, school expenses for their children, maintenance and the return of marital property.

Confrontation inside Tanta court

According to the husband’s account, he went to Tanta court on April 8 after being ordered to appear in a case involving a trust receipt.

He said he arrived at about 9am and was confronted by his wife, who allegedly tried to prevent him from attending the hearing before attacking him in front of other people inside the court complex.

Several witnesses filmed the confrontation on their mobile phones, he said.

Court security intervened, and both spouses were taken to a police station, where a report was filed. Prosecutors later released them pending further proceedings.

The husband said he subsequently discovered that footage of the confrontation had spread online.

Dispute over trust receipt

The husband also told investigators that part of the dispute involved a 10,000 Egyptian pound trust receipt that he acknowledged signing.

He said, however, that another receipt for 15,000 pounds later appeared and that he challenged it as a forgery.

According to his account, forensic handwriting experts examined samples of his writing four times and concluded that the disputed receipt had not been written in his hand.

He said the court had summoned him to take an oath stating that he had not received the money connected to the disputed document.

The husband said he had previously worked as a deputy public relations manager at a car dealership but left his job about six months ago because of the continuing disputes and was currently unemployed.

The wife maintained her denial throughout the investigation, insisting that it was her husband who had assaulted her and that the confrontation stemmed from their long-running family and legal disputes.

Security officers at the Tanta Courts Complex intervened to bring the confrontation under control before legal proceedings were initiated.

The case ultimately ended with the woman’s conviction and a one-month prison sentence.