The General Prosecution has on 19 April referred the killer of the Alexandria priest Fr Arsanius Wadid to the criminal court on charges of intentional murder and possession of a white weapon.
Fr Arsanius, priest of the church of the Holy Virgin and Mar-Boulos (St Paul) in Karmouz, Alexandria, had been stabbed to death on 7 April by 60-year-old Nehru Abdel-Moneim Tawfiq, commonly known as Nehru.
When questioned by the prosecution, Mr Nehru initially confessed his crime, but then claimed that he suffered from mental illness and did not recall stabbing the priest. The prosecution had a court order issued to place him under medical observation in a public mental hospital to assess his mental status, and to determine if he suffered from any illness that might lead him to unwittingly commit the crime.
Prosecution investigates murder of Fr Arsanius of Alexandria
In its referral of Mr Nehru to criminal court, the prosecution said that it based its charges on the testimony of 17 eyewitnesses, and on the report by the regional board of mental health which proved that the defendant was in possession of full consciousness and will at the time of committing the crime; he did not suffer from any mental or psychological disturbance during his medical investigation or at the time of the crime, which makes him responsible for committing it, the report said.
The prosecution also said that the forensic report‘s DNA testing proved that the blood on the knife used by the stabber was the same as the victim’s.
Watani International
20 April 2022