How low must we sink in the name of “entertainment”? The upcoming series Sa’ato W Tareekho (His Hour and His Date), dramatizing the brutal murder of Nayera Ashraf, marks yet another dark moment for Egypt’s entertainment industry.

The murder that shocked the nation, leaving a family devastated, has now been turned into fodder for ratings—and it’s appalling.

Nayera Ashraf’s family has publicly condemned this series.

They were not consulted.

They do not approve.

And yet, their grief is being paraded as a spectacle for millions to consume.

Let’s call this what it is: exploitation.

This isn’t about raising awareness or exploring societal issues—it’s about turning fresh trauma into profit, and it’s utterly shameful.

What Is Sa’ato W Tareekho?

Sa’ato W Tareekho is an upcoming series on dmc, and features talents from the show Casting, which recently concluded its run on the same channel. Each set of two episodes explores a different crime, dramatizing significant cases from Egyptian courtrooms.

The show promises suspense and drama, recreating real-life cases in a thriller format.

The cast includes a mix of rising talents from Casting alongside prominent actors like Ahmed Amin, Arwa Gouda, Mayan El Sayed, Hanan Soliman, Sulaiman Eid, Heba Magdy, Ahmed Dash, Khaled Anwar, and more.

It is directed by Amr Salama, Amr Moussa, and Ahmed Adel, with a legal consultant, Counselor Bahaa El-Mary, ensuring the accuracy of the dramatizations.

While the series boasts an impressive team and production quality, its decision to include Nayera Ashraf’s story is deeply troubling and insensitive.

The Obsession with Sensationalism

True crime can be a powerful genre, but not when it preys on those still mourning. Nayera Ashraf’s murder was not a plotline—it was a harrowing tragedy. Yet, instead of respecting the family’s right to grieve, the producers rushed to immortalize her death on screen.

Why? Because sensationalism sells.

This isn’t a one-off mistake. We saw the same with Safa7 El Giza, a series based on a murderer whose trial wasn’t even finalized. The victims’ families were still waiting for justice, yet their pain was already being commodified for TV.

What message does this send? That their suffering is just another stepping stone to the next trending series?

A Legacy of Disrespecting Victims

Egyptian entertainment has a long, troubling history of disrespecting victims. Raya and Sekina, two of the most infamous serial killers in our history, are consistently portrayed in comedic roles. Their horrific crimes—the lives of women they tortured and murdered—are reduced to punchlines for laughs. Where is the respect for the victims? Where is the humanity?

This isn’t storytelling; it’s mockery. And now, with Sa’ato W Tareekho, this tradition of insensitivity continues, proving once again that our entertainment industry values shock value over integrity.

A Wealth of Stories to Tell—So Why This One?

What’s even more infuriating is that Egypt has no shortage of compelling, untold true crime stories. There are historical mysteries, societal crimes that highlight systemic failures, and countless narratives that could spark real conversations without tearing open fresh wounds.

So why this fixation on cases where the pain is still raw, where the victims’ families are still trying to pick up the pieces of their lives? Are we so creatively bankrupt that we can’t look beyond the most headline-grabbing tragedies of the moment? Or is it simply easier to exploit what’s already trending?

This Is Not Art—It’s Exploitation

Let’s not sugarcoat this: Sa’ato W Tareekho is not a tribute, a cautionary tale, or a means of raising awareness. It’s a cheap cash grab. A real artist would know better than to rush a production about a tragedy that’s still fresh in the minds of the public. A responsible industry would prioritize ethics over ratings. But here we are.

Consent matters. The feelings of victims’ families matter. If the entertainment industry continues to bulldoze through grief in its relentless pursuit of profit, it sends a clear message: We don’t care about your pain; we only care about your story.

The Bottom Line: Enough Is Enough

It reflects an industry that has lost its way, prioritizing sensationalism over substance, profit over people.

Egypt deserves better. Victims and their families deserve better.

It’s time for the entertainment industry to take a long, hard look in the mirror and ask:

What kind of stories are we telling? And at what cost?

At this point, women in Egypt might feel compelled to explicitly state, while still alive, that they do not consent to their stories being dramatized if they are ever victims of violence.

How heartbreaking is it that this could be a necessary precaution in a society where exploitation comes faster than justice?

Until the industry learns to prioritize empathy and ethics, we, as viewers, must reject these exploitative narratives and demand more accountability from the creators behind them.

It’s not too late to choose respect over ratings, empathy over exploitation.

But for now, Sa’ato W Tareekho stands as a grim reminder of just how far we’ve fallen.