Egypt: Man dies after police 'throw him off roof'

An Egyptian labourer has died from injuries he sustained after he was allegedly thrown off the roof of his home during an early morning police raid on his home last week, according to the victim and locals in his town.

Kamal Mohammad al-Sharqawi, 52, died in hospital on Sunday while undergoing surgery for multiple injuries he sustained after suspiciously falling off his roof in the town of Nahya on February 2.

Sharqawi, a plasterer and father of two, accused police of "throwing him off the roof", while police have claimed he was injured in a work related accident.

"When police raided [Sharqawi's] home, he went up onto the roof. Police then threw him off the building and then left him for dead," a Nahya local told The New Arab.

"Family and friends took him to hospital, where police arrived and tied his hand and feet to the bed. Hospital staff wrote that he had died of natural causes on his death certificate and have refused to hand over his body to family" he said.

"He wasn't involved with politics and wasn't implicated in any criminal activity," he added.

	Sharqawi seems semi-conscious in the video uploaded to social media [YouTube]

A short video of a severely injured Sharqawi being questioned by a man off camera was uploaded onto YouTube on Sunday.

In the two-minute clip, a semi-conscious Sharqawi says that he was pushed off the roof by a policeman called Mustafa.

Police have denied the accusations, telling local media that he was fugitive member of the now-banned Muslim Brotherhood and that he was injured after he fell from scaffolding while at work.

Since the beginning of the year, there has been heightened police presence in Nahya, which is a known stronghold of the Muslim Brotherhood and site of many anti-government protests.

This week, the police have also been accused of carrying out four extrajudicial killings in a town south of Cairo.

Police have also been accused of having a hand in the recent torture and murder of an Italian student in Cairo.

Since the military removed Mohammad Morsi, Egypt's first freely elected president and Brotherhood member, in July 2013 coup, Egyptian police have led a harsh crackdown against Muslim Brotherhood members.

In July and August 2013, security forces carried out a series of mass killings against Morsi supporters and Brotherhood members, leaving at least 1,150 people dead.

Egypt has held no official or member of the security forces accountable for these probable crimes against humanity.