Laila Mohammed 

CAIRO: An Egyptian man threw his wife from their fifth-floor apartment to the ground because she was infected with the coronavirus.

The woman, aged 25, survived the fall and neighbors took her to hospital, where she had surgery for spinal injuries. The husband has been detained in prison pending a police investigation.

The man told officers that he and his wife argued constantly, and had decided to separate. The tension became worse when he found out she had contracted COVID-19. “I was afraid of becoming infected,” he told police. “My wife took three tests, which all confirmed she was infected. So I asked her to leave the house. But when she refused, I pushed her.”

Public prosecution are now waiting for the wife to recover and leave quarantine so she can give a sworn statement.

Dr. Aly Mazyad, consultant orthopedic surgeon at Ain Shams University Hospital in Cairo, said the hospital had set up a special operating theater in its quarantine department because the woman was infected with coronavirus. The infection was stable but she remained in critical condition and could take months to fully recover, he said.

The incident has shone a light on the increase in domestic violence during coronavirus lockdowns, not just in Egypt but across the world.

“There is no outlet, no public parks or entertainment centers to visit, and families are staying for long stretches of time together in the same place,” psychiatrist Nermeen Geed said.

Other factors that contributed to domestic tension were the closure of schools, loneliness, financial problems and boredom, she said. “We are all in one boat, fighting an unknown enemy. So we must all agree on how to coexist and deal with these circumstances.”