Rayya and Sakina

Raya and Abu al-Ela resort to theft, while Sakina sells her own body to secure food—behavior that becomes the talk of the village. Consequently, they leave and head to Kafr al-Zayyat, where Sakina and Abu al-Ela find work at a cotton gin, while Raya sells food on the street. It is there that Fathallah enters the picture and marries her.

Raya’s husband falls ill, so she sends Abu al-Ela to bring Hasaballah from Alexandria. Her husband subsequently passes away, having entrusted his brother with the care of Raya and her unborn child. Hareedi advises the brother to stay by Raya’s side until she gives birth, and later suggests that he marry her—which he does. The child eventually dies, while Sakina marries Othman.

Abu al-Ula, Raya, their mother, and Hasaballah turn a blind eye to Sakina’s practice of selling her body to men—a necessity driven by their need for money. When Othman catches someone climbing out of the window of his room, Sakina flees in fear, eventually reaching Tanta, where she begins working as a dancer. Meanwhile, Raya gives birth to a daughter fathered by Hasaballah.

Hasaballah is caught stealing cotton and sentenced to six months in prison; upon his release, he returns to stealing food. Having gained a reputation for this, he is hired by the proprietor—the *khawaja*—to serve as a guard at the cotton gin. Meanwhile, Sakina flees to Alexandria with her husband, Ahmed—with whom she had previously stolen medicine from a hospital—and Ahmed subsequently enlists in the army.

Raya is imprisoned for six months, while Hasaballah takes his daughter, Badi'a, to stay with Sakina in Alexandria. The police then hand over Hasaballah’s son to him, as the law prohibits a child from being raised in prison. Upon her release, Raya joins Sakina, who suggests that they leave their current room and move elsewhere.

Ahmed returns with six and a half pounds; Sakina uses the money to buy food and clothing for herself, and gives some to Raya when she visits her. Raya’s son passes away, and Abu al-Ula and his mother leave for Alexandria. Later, Abu al-Ula and Hasaballah rob Sakina—who learns of this from Maryam—so she goes to confront Raya and Abu al-Ula.

Hasaballah conceived the idea of ​​opening a coffeehouse where Raya would dance, with the earnings to be shared among them all. To raise the necessary capital, he and Abu al-Ela resorted to theft. Eventually, they sold the place and moved to a house with multiple rooms—a space designed more for revelry than as a traditional coffeehouse—having also struck a deal with a local strongman to provide them with protection.

Sakina rebukes Hasaballah for having Orabi keep El-Saddad away from the tavern; yet, she later asks El-Saddad to stay away from her, after he grows fearful of standing by her against Hasaballah. She then dissolves her partnership with Hasaballah and subsequently develops an interest in Abdel-Aal, who had come to intercede with her on El-Saddad’s behalf.

Sakina believed that Hasaballah was the one who had reported her to the police. She went to him to demand the remainder of what she was owed, but he refused to pay. In retaliation, she informed the police about his house. Consequently, Raya and the customers were arrested—though Sakina herself was not convicted, following statements made by Hasaballah—and they subsequently left that house to go stay with Sakina.

Raya moves to another house, accompanied by Sakina, Hasaballah, and Abdel-Aal. In the new neighborhood, she claims to be a seamstress, while Sakina poses as a peddler—a ruse facilitated by Adila, whose sister lived in the area, married to a man who owned a coffeehouse. Ahmed returns and refuses to divorce Sakina, even after learning of her love for Abdel-Aal.

Ahmed informs on Sakina, leading to the arrest of everyone involved, including Adila and her sister’s husband. Six months later, Sakina and Raya are released from prison and go to see Maryam, who secures a new house for them—located next to the camp where volunteers stay before being deployed to the British Army.

Hasaballah returns from the British army, followed by the return of Orabi. Sakina becomes grief-stricken, believing that Abdel-Aal has died. Shortly after, someone informs her that her husband, Ahmed Ragab, has passed away. Later, Abdel-Aal returns—having been brought to Sakina’s location by Maryam—and proposes marriage to Sakina, on the condition that she gives up her work and stops consuming alcohol.

Mahmoud asks his brother, Abdel-Aal, to leave Sakina because of the work she and her sister are involved in. Sakina then decides to open a coffee shop near the police station, away from her sister. When Abdel-Aal’s mother arrives, he tells her that Sakina is his business partner in the coffee shop; however, the mother—upset by this—reveals that she is his wife. A quarrel ensues, and he ends up divorcing her.

Sakina goes to see Abdel-Aal at his workplace, asking him to forgive her and take her back as his wife. He agrees, but sets certain conditions. Sakina consents to resume their "work" once they move to a new location—a place Raya secured through Amina al-Dalala—while Raya proceeds to rent several other houses to carry on their operations.

A local strongman named Abdel-Razeq appears, leading Raya and Hasaballah to reach an agreement with him—along with Orabi—to provide them with protection. However, their operations are brought to a halt by the demonstrations against the British. When they discover that Khadra is in possession of gold, Abdel-Razeq, Orabi, and Hasaballah decide to rob her and devise a plan to carry it out.

The plan to steal Khadra’s gold fails despite her arrival, so Abdel-Raziq considers killing her to take it. They devise a scheme to ensure Raya is the one to call for her murder; Hasaballah convinces Abdel-Aal, and Raya persuades Sakina. Raya brings Khadra in, the men get her drunk, and then they kill her.

The men bury Khadra at the house and take the money she had with her, while everyone shares the proceeds from the gold that Raya and Sakina sold. When Khadra went missing, her sons reported it to the police; meanwhile, Orabi contemplated killing Nazla because she had left him to return to her former lover.

Badi'a witnesses the men burying Nazla in a pit. Raya and Hasaballah frighten her, threatening to kill her if she speaks. Later, Orabi tells her mother that he saw her with Abdel Rahim, which leads to the police being notified about Raya and Abdel Rahim; however, the witness denies the accusation against Raya.

Raya encounters Aziza at the market and realizes that the gold in Aziza’s possession is enough to meet their needs. She invites her over; the men arrive, kill Aziza, and divide the gold among themselves. Meanwhile, Raya gives birth to a baby boy—who, like her three previous children, is stillborn—and tells the police officer that she has not seen Nazla, in an attempt to deflect the accusation from herself.

This time, it was Saniya’s turn. When Orabi sought to kill her, Sakina could not bring herself to stay; she left in tears and headed home. Raya fell ill, troubled by Badi’a’s talk about the murders of women, but Sakina arranged a *zar* (a traditional ritual) for her, facilitated by Nabawiya. Once Raya had recovered, she conceived a plan to kill Nabawiya and steal her gold.

The men kill Nabawiya, steal her gold, and bury her in the room that Raya had rented from Amina; meanwhile, Nabawiya’s husband reports her disappearance to the police. Subsequently, Raya, Sakina, and their accomplices kill another woman and steal her gold—only to discover, upon attempting to sell it, that most of it is fake.

Sakina, believing that there was something going on between Abdel-Aal and Zanouba, suggested that they kill her and steal her gold. They carried out the act, and Shawq nearly caught them in the process—with the body in their possession—while Al-Zakkak almost uncovered the whole truth after discovering soil inside the room. Meanwhile, Raya, Sakina, and Hassouna are accused of murdering Zanouba.

Raya, Sakina, and their associates continue to murder women and steal their gold. Among their victims is Fatima, whom Raya encountered at the poultry seller’s shop. Later, Raya met Anisa and Adila at the market and invited them to her home; as they were leaving, Mohamed Khafaja spotted them and asked Raya if he could join them.

Abdel-Razeq is annoyed that Raya prevents him from joining Mohamed Khafaja, Anisa, and Adila; however, Mohamed promises him that he will arrange for them to sit together another time. On a subsequent occasion, Raya brings both Anisa and Adila along, which prompts Mohamed Khafaja to visit Raya’s house—a development that leaves Abdel-Razeq furious when he discovers they were there with him.

Amina takes Raya and Sakina’s clients to her room, leading to an altercation with Sakina, which prompts Amina to file a complaint against them. Meanwhile, Hasaballah, Orabi, and Abdel-Aal tell Abdel-Razeq that Anisa must be killed so her gold can be stolen, while Khafaja and Abdel-Razeq consider taking Anisa and Adila to the inn.

After spending the night with Anissa, Abdel-Razek robbed her. She and Adila went to complain about him to Raya, but Khafaga paid her off. This led Abdel-Razek—furious that she had exposed him—to seek revenge; he plotted to kill her and steal her gold. Consequently, Adila went to ask Raya about Anissa’s whereabouts.

Amina listens as Adila asks Abdel-Razeq about Anisa’s whereabouts. Meanwhile, Sakina moves to another house—having struck up a relationship with Salama after Abdel-Aal left her to return to his mother—and, incensed by Umm Farhat’s claims that Salama had been sleeping with her, Sakina decides to kill and rob Umm Farhat, which she subsequently carries out.

Officer Ibrahim suspects that the disappearance of Umm Farhat involves foul play. Meanwhile, as preparations are underway to kill and rob Nabawiya, Umm Raya arrives and inadvertently thwarts the plan. She stays with the group for a while, during which the killings cease. Later, a new plot is devised to kill and rob her, but Salama witnesses them in the act and ends up joining the gang.

Abu al-Ula arrives to collect his mother and take her home; meanwhile, Raya and her men murder and rob Zannuba, having first gotten Sakina out of the way so she would not interfere. When Bati'a asks Sakina about her mother, Sakina lies; however, Bati'a begins to suspect that a pair of slippers Sakina is wearing actually belongs to her mother—to which Sakina swears that she had purchased them from her.

It turns out that Salama is a thief and has been arrested. Upon learning of Abdel-Aal’s return, Sakina goes to see him. Raya devises a plan to kill and rob Fatima—as an act of vengeance against both her and her husband—and the plan is carried out. Meanwhile, Ramadan goes to file a missing person’s report for his wife, leading Ibrahim to believe that a serial killer is at large in the area.

Hasaballah tells Raya that he wishes to get married, while Sakina moves into a new home accompanied by Abdel-Aal. There, they meet Firdous; sensing that Abdel-Aal has taken a liking to her, Sakina suggests to Raya that they plot to kill Firdous and steal her gold—especially after Firdous’s mother had arrived and given her some gold jewelry.

Abdel-Aal, Hasaballah, Raya, and Sakina kill Firdous and steal her gold without informing Orabi and Abdel-Razeq, receiving 50 pounds and some gold in return. Meanwhile, Sakina goes to the goldsmiths' market to collect the rest of Firdous’s gold. As Firdous’s mother continues to ask Sakina about her daughter’s whereabouts, Raya considers killing her as well.

Following a report about the discovery of a human corpse, Ibrahim and his force go to the room where Sakina used to live; he orders it to be sealed off and launches an investigation. Raya, Sakina, and their associates agree to claim that they know nothing about the body, but Sakina is subsequently arrested and interrogated.

The public prosecutor requests the case files concerning the disappearances of several women and summons Raya for questioning. Due to a foul odor emanating from the house, Ibrahim orders an excavation, which leads to the discovery of multiple bodies. Subsequently, Orabi, Abdel-Razeq, and Hasaballah are arrested; however, as they begin to alter their statements, the public prosecutor assigned to the case is replaced.

More bodies were discovered, just as Suleiman Ezzat had anticipated. He brought food to Badia, who then confessed that Raya, Sakina, and their associates had murdered Nazla. Subsequently, he confronted Sakina with Firdous’s gold jewelry and confronted Raya with Badia’s testimony. This led the group to confess; they were ultimately sentenced to death by hanging, while the jeweler was sentenced to five years in prison.