QALUIBIA - Police have unravelled the mystery behind the death of a polygamous maa'-zoun (a marriage registrar), who has been found bludgeoned to death in his house on Monday, security sources said on Wednesday. Preliminary investigations into the murder of Sheikh Magdi Mahmoud Hassan Selim, 56, showed that his fifth wife and a worker were behind his death, police in the Delta Governorate of Qalubia said. The 35-year-old wife, identified as Ashgan, confessed to hiring a junk worker to kill Sheikh Selim to avenge his repetitive threats to divorce her after giving birth to their baby girl, the police said. The worker, whose name was not disclosed, said that Ashgan had lured him into assaulting the victim while he was alone and forcing him to sign a LE50,000 IOU note in her favour, which she could use against him if he had gone ahead with his divorce threat against her, the police said. However, when the worker was at the victim's house, a bloody fist fight broke between the two men, they added. During the fight, the worker, who happened to be a neighbour to the victim, had repeatedly hit the victim's head with a sharp object that ripped the skull open, the police added. Ashgan, who has been tentatively accused of instigating murder, will remain in police custody for four days along with the worker, who faces homicide charges, sources close to Prosecutor's office in el-Qanater el-Khairyia said.
