Egyptian authorities follow up murder of pharmacist by Saudi woman

CAIRO – 15 July 2022: A 33-year-old Egyptian pharmacist, Ahmed Hatem, died after being shot by a Saudi woman in the Sakaka area of Al-Jawf Governorate in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on Wednesday after he refused to give her medicine without a doctor’s prescription.

An altercation took place at a pharmacy between the pharmacist and the lady as he refused to sell her a certain antibiotic without a prescription as per the Saudi Health Instructions. However, the result was that the lady opened fire at him.

The Saudi police announced on the following day that the woman has been arrested by Jawf police, and then referred to the General Prosecution.

شرطة منطقة الجوف تقبض على امرأة لإطلاقها النار على شخص. pic.twitter.com/VXRSqcKoPc

— الأمن العام (@security_gov) July 13, 2022

The Egyptian Minister of Manpower and the Office of Labor Representation at the Egyptian Consulate in Riyadh followed up the incident, the Ministry said in a statement.

Hatem was shot by two bullets in his back and then was transferred to a hospital, where he passed away on arrival, the statement added.

The Labor representation office in Saud Arabia was tasked to communicate with the family of the deceased to facilitate all procedures for shipping the body after getting the prosecution’s permit.

Egyptian Minister of Immigration and Egyptians Abroad Affairs Ambassador Nabila Makram offered condolences to the family of the deceased, and also reassured the family that all measures were taken to ensure the speedy return of the body to the homeland.