A collection of weird and wondrous news items from Egypt
Second best
Marrying the mother to get closer to the daughter was the carpenter's wicked plan. After her husband's death, the widow's main concern was to take care of her young daughter and give her a good education. The years passed by and the lonely widow eventually remarried a carpenter. But soon after their honeymoon, the woman saw her husband flirting with her daughter and found out that he had only married her to get closer to the girl. Although she has given up all her rights, the carpenter refuses to give her a divorce. Obviously, he is still in love with the daughter! (From Al Ahram)
Bring on the wrinkles
It's not unusual for women to lie about their age to appear younger, but in this case a housewife added seven years to her real age on her birth certificate. Her forgery was a desperate attempt to travel and work in the Gulf area without a male guardian. Her scam was discovered when she went to issue a national ID and presented documents not in accordance with her records on the computer system. After questioning, the woman admitted having paid someone LE 1,000 ($175) to change her date of birth to 1953 instead of 1960. (From Al Wafd)
Three in one
A farmer who wanted his sons to avoid the mandatory military service had the three boys use the same name for 30 years. When his first son was born, he issued a birth certificate, which he later used to apply for schools and college for the other two sons. His well-kept secret was revealed when one of his sons went to issue a national ID card and it was discovered that a person carrying the same name and birth certificate had issued an identical ID card earlier. (From Al Ahram)
Judas kiss
Shortly after her husband left Egypt to work abroad, a young peasant woman noticed that her neighbors were all gossiping about her. She soon realized that behind the rumors was a young man who had often harassed her and who felt snubbed by her rejection. Plotting her revenge, the young woman got her tormenter to follow her to the corn fields, where he started kissing her. At that point she sucked hard on his tongue and chopped it off with her teeth. She walked around the village victoriously saying she had "chopped the lying tongue". (From Al Ahram)
Ants bringing down the house
Is this the reason why Cairo's buildings collapse so readily? Scientific research conducted in Egypt by Brazilian scientists show that there are now more than 3,000 different species of ants in Egypt. They conclude that the country is second only to India for being home to the greatest variety of ants. The scientists warned of a particularly lethal species of fire ant that is populating in the unfortunate host country. Apparently, this ant works diligently and relentlessly to dig around the main pillars of buildings thereby weakening their infrastructure. (From Al Ahram).
One con too many
A team of con artists were getting so successful with a new ruse on the Cairo Metro network that they got carried away, well at least one did - too many times by the same people!! A female among the group would very realistically faint at a Metro station platform. As distracted commuters unwittingly rushed to help, her assistants would pick pocket them. The petty thieves were found out when someone realized he had rescued the same woman three times. (From Al Ahram)
Tricky jinn
Cairo police are intensifying their efforts to arrest a charlatan who raped a 29-year-old housewife after convincing her that he would discharge a jinn dwelling in her body. In one of his sessions he convinced his victim that he had to inoculate her to force the jinn out. Instead, the inoculation knocked her unconscious after which the imposter raped her. It appears that the jinn was really the rapist. (From Al Wafd)
Man's handbag gives him away
Two policemen were rewarded for uncovering a dangerous male criminal disguised as a woman in a dress and a face veil. Armed only with a woman's black handbag he daringly stepped into a police station to visit a friend who was imprisoned there.
It wasn't that they saw through his disguise but what they found in his handbag. Unfortunately for him, the two policemen asked to search his bag. Along with the usual mobile phone and money, hidden within the handbag were 57 illegal drug tablets. He admitted under interrogation that he was a male who had been convicted for drug dealing and attempted murder and that he was on the run. (From Al Wafd)
Dead duck vendetta
In an unusual variation from the typical vendettas that so often take place in Upper Egypt, two families came to blows over a dead duck. The duck vendetta began after a young man accidentally drove over an unsuspecting waterfowl, squashing it dead. His deeply felt apologies and offer to pay LE100 ($18) to the owner was not enough to compensate the loss felt by the family.
Not only did the family refuse to accept condolences for the deceased duck, but they planned to take their revenge and kill all the ducks owned by the "murderer's" family. Eight people were injured by sticks and hoses when the female members of both families clashed. (From Al Ahram)
Only in Egypt!
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