Egyptian TV presenter found buried in her garden as husband is issued arrest warrant

A prominent member of the country's State Council is accused of killing his wife, television presenter Shaimaa Gamal

Shaimaa El Gamal was reported missing by her husband, judge Ayman Haggag two weeks ago. A warrant has now been issued for his arrest. Shaimaa El Gamal/ Twitter

Police found the remains of an Egyptian television presenter buried in the garden of a private home on the outskirts of Cairo on Tuesday, according to a statement from the country’s prosecutor general.

Shaimaa Gamal was reported missing by her husband, judge Ayman Haggag — a member of the country's State Council — two weeks ago.

When police discovered Gamal, her face was disfigured by nitric acid. Prosecutors say her killer did this — after beating her to death with a blunt instrument — to distort her features.

A warrant has now been issued for Haggag's arrest.

Police officials in the affluent Sheikh Zayed district of Cairo received a report from Haggag two weeks ago when he claimed to have dropped Gamal off in front of a mall in Sheikh Zayed where she went to get hair done.

He alleged at the time that she told him she would meet him outside the mall, but that she did not show up and that her phone had been switched off, police said.

Police were unable to locate Gamal until an associate of Haggag came forward on June 26 and gave a witness account of the murder and the disposal of the body, which he claimed he helped the judge to do.

The man led investigators to the spot where Gamal was buried.

Haggag’s immunity was lifted by Egypt's State Council on Monday to allow the legal proceedings in the case to take their course.