An Egyptian judge identified as Ayman Hajaj has allegedly murdered his wife, a 42-year-old television presenter, and burned her face using nitric acid, according to local media reports.

Earlier in June, Hajaj, vice president of the state council, had reported that his wife, Shaymaa Jamal, had gone missing and that she was last seen in front of a mall, in the 6th of October City in the governorate of Giza.

The circumstances surrounding her disappearance became clear after an alleged witness stepped forward and informed the authorities where Jamal’s body was.

Ibrahim Tantawi, the lawyer of the alleged witness with initials H.M., explained that his client was present when Hajaj killed his wife in the farm where her body was found, local news website Masrawy reported on Tuesday.

He also said that Jamal was Hajaj’s second wife and that their marriage was “secret” adding that his first wife knew nothing about it.

According to the witness, after Hajaj and Jamal engaged in a heated argument, Hajaj struck her three times on the head with a gun and then strangled her with a scarf she was wearing, suffocating her to death and killing her on the spot. (Courtesy, excluding headline, English Alarabiya)