A senior judge accused of strangling his wife and then burying her body in a shallow grave is being hunted by police in Egypt.

Justice official Ayman Hajjaj is alleged to have killed victim Shaimaa Gamal because she threatened to tell his first wife about their secret marriage.

Under local law, Egyptian men are allowed to have up to four wives.

Police in Giza Governorate found the body of TV news presenter Gamal, 32, buried on a farm in Al Mansoureyah on Monday, 27th June.

Judge Hajjaj had reported her missing three weeks earlier.

The TV anchor was last seen with her husband at a shopping centre in 6th of October City.

The judge claimed she had entered a hair salon and never came out, but prosecutors doubted his version of events.

They now say the judge was behind the killing after a man who claimed to be a witness came forward and told police where to find the body.

The witness’s lawyer – named as Ibrahim Tantawi – told local media that the newsreader had been the judge’s secret second wife of more than eight years.

He said a row had taken place between the two and ended with the TV star threatening to tell the judge’s first wife about their marriage.

The judge is then said to have flown into a rage, repeatedly pounding his victim’s head with a gun.

He then allegedly strangled her with her scarf until she passed out.

The lawyer said his client was then threatened and briefly held hostage by the judge, but he managed to escape and later went to the police.

But the man also admitted that he was more than just a witness to the crime and he is now in custody while the authorities investigate his involvement in the killing.

His version of events is still being corroborated by investigators, who have not yet confirmed any details about how the presenter was killed.

And the judge remains at large, with some reports suggesting he fled to the United Arab Emirates.