Egypt: 10-year-old disabled girl sacrificed to jinn by uncle and aunt

A ten-year-old disabled Egyptian girl has been killed by her uncle and aunt in what they say was a sacrifice to the jinn.

Gulf News reported Shaimaa suffered from brain atrophy; a loss of brain cells or a loss in the number of connections between brain cells.

According to the news report, the couple strangled the girl with a scarf and covered her in sand after they were told they would find treasure if they offered her to the jinn.

The uncle strangled her before they could start the ritual, according to Gulf News.

Her mother reportedly told police what had happened after leaving the house and returning home to find her daughter was missing.

In Egypt there are few services for people with disabilities and there is a stigma attached meaning parents can find it hard to get their children into schools and nurseries.

READ: HRW: Egypt has carried out unlawful extrajudicial executions

Earlier this week a four-year-old girl was also sacrificed by her father after being told he would find hidden treasure.

Last year, there were two separate incidents in two weeks when fathers killed their children, reportedly from fear of poverty.

One threw his three children in front of a train and investigations later found out he was receiving treatment in hospital for a mental disorder.

Another man set fire to his mother, wife and three daughters and locked them in their apartment after there was a dispute over expenses in the family.

In 2017 a father threw his two sons from a bridge over the Nile, reportedly because he was in despair at the economic crisis in the country which meant he could no longer feed them.