Egypt: Woman Brutally Stabbed To Death In Broad Daylight For Refusing Proposal

In northern Egypt, a young woman was fatally stabbed in broad daylight outside her university. The suspect, who authorities claim is a fellow student, is currently in jail. The murder of Naira Ashraf Abdel Qader, who was assassinated in front of horrified witnesses and in full view of security cameras, has shaken Egypt. After being repeatedly stabbed in the neck and torso at the Mansoura University entrance, pictures of her body have gone viral on social media.

Police reported that a suspect was in custody who, during interviews, admitted that his motivation for the crime was her refusal to message him on Facebook and propose marriage. Reports by VICE say that the accused, who has only been identified as Mohammed A and was detained at the scene, told the prosecutor yesterday that Ashraf had blocked him on social media and that he had made several attempts to contact her over the course of a year and a half during which he told investigators "she became famous" and gathered a following on social media.

Egyptian Woman Stabbed 

According to a report, the woman's father admitted during a TV interview that the accused had threatened Ashraf more than once and that the family had informed the police about these threats. Human rights organisations have regularly criticised the Egyptian government for failing to protect women.

Amnesty International stated in its most recent country report that the Egyptian government was failing "to prevent and investigate pervasive violence against women and girls." Furthermore, in violation of their rights to privacy, freedom of expression, and non-discrimination, Egyptian authorities "carried out an aggressive campaign of arrests and prosecutions against women social media influencers."

Despite requests to cease, videos of the attack and a throng approaching the site have gone viral on social media, with users around the Arab world decrying the death.

Eyewitnesses told Egypt Independent that the young man, a third-year arts student, stabbed the woman in front of the gate as she was walking to the bus stop to take her home to al-Mahalla in the Gharbiya governorate. He cut the woman's throat when bystanders tried to catch him. He was eventually apprehended by security and onlookers.

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According to investigations, Ashraf was murdered on Monday morning at the university gates by Mohamed Adel, a third-year student at the Faculty of Arts at Mansoura University.

Feature Image Credit: VICE.