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A German woman who imagined a “beautiful life with her new love” in the Red Sea area of the Egyptian city of Hurghada was instead subjected to a hellish kidnapping experience. Now, a criminal trial is running in Munich.
Hurghada is considered a “holiday paradise” in Egypt, a deeply troubled country ruled by an autocrat and rife with poverty and abuse of women. The case dates back to 2017, when a German woman, who is now 33 years old, was locked in an apartment, brutally tortured, and raped numerous times, according to prosecutors.
The trial is finally running in Munich due to the fact that the man was a resident there at the time, before luring his then girlfriend to move with him to Egypt for a “bright future.”
In fact, the 37-year-old Egyptian man is referred to as a “German” because he has citizenship. The case is being tried in Munich because that was the place of residence for the defendant when the crimes allegedly occurred. He is accused of kidnapping, intentional and dangerous bodily harm, threats, and rape, according to German media outlet Abendzeitung München.
On the first day of trial, he already confessed to the crimes.
The two originally met on the internet, and on New Year’s Eve 2016, the woman traveled to Egypt to build a new life with the man. However, things quickly went sour, and the man began attacking her two weeks into January 2017. He then seized her phone, passport, and locked her in the apartment whenever he went outside.
The man in the case stated that he was on painkillers at the time, along with hashish and crystal meth. He said he had not slept for two to three days at a time.
Egyptian police, working with German Federal Police (BKA) freed the woman on March 17, 2017. It remains unclear how the women’s plight came to the attention of the authorities.
A verdict in the case is expected on Dec. 17.