Residents of the Egyptian city of Mansoura were rocked this week by the gruesome murder of a university student whose throat was slit on a busy street in front of hundreds of witnesses.
A video of the woman's murder on Monday morning was widely circulated on social media, triggering a nationwide outcry.
Following investigations ordered by the country’s prosecutor general, it was revealed that the murdered student, Nayera Ashraf, 21, had rebuffed repeated romantic advances from her killer.
The killer, in a confession given to prosecutors, said he had proposed marriage to Ashraf and her refusal led him to kill her.
The murder has also rekindled debate over the abuses suffered by women in the Arab world’s most populous nation, where a series of sexual assault cases has taken centre stage over the past couple of years in what many are calling Egypt’s #MeToo moment.
“I arrived at the spot where she was murdered moments after she had fallen on the floor. I was running to cross the street when he slit her throat twice,” Rowan Ayman, 21, a student at Mansoura University arts faculty and a close friend of Ashraf’s, told The National.
“She had already been stabbed multiple times in her chest and neck before he slit her throat. The amount of blood was too much to handle and I just fainted looking at the whole thing.”
Following Ashraf’s murder, several women residents of Mansoura told The National that they have been afraid to leave their homes unchaperoned.
Outside the university's Toshka gate, near where the murder took place, a group of men waited in the scorching heat to escort women students back to their homes.
Nearby, a memorial for Ashraf was set up on the spot where traces of her blood could still be seen on the pavement.
“We held a vigil for her after the funeral. All her friends and colleagues attended it and left mementos and photos of her,” Ms Ayman said. “She was a prominent member of the student union and she was really well liked.”
On Thursday afternoon, mourners put up a large poster in her memory over the spot where she was killed.
In the photo on the poster, Ashraf is wearing a veil, though she was not veiled when she was alive — something that has angered many of her close friends.
“It is insulting to put a veil on her in the photo,” a 20-year-old student at Mansoura University told The National.
“It’s like they were posthumously covering her up, which to me and a lot of people here sends the message that the way she dressed and her uncovered hair somehow played a part in her murder.”
The student asked to remain anonymous for fear that her opinion on the veil could cause backlash from her family and friends.
One of Egypt's conservative commentators, Mabrouk Attia, a TV presenter and professor of Islamic law at Al Azhar University, said in a widely denounced video that the way Ashraf dressed might have played a part in her murder. He urged women to cover up to save their lives.
The National Council for Women and its head, prominent feminist activist Maya Morsi, filed a lawsuit against Attia for his comments.
“The blood of the Mansoura student and others like her is on the hands of every cleric who went out and spoke about girls' clothes and how that they are somehow to blame for horrific incidents such as this,” Ms Morsi said in a statement.
Attia's opinion was also denounced by prominent women’s rights lawyer Nehad Abou El Qomsan, who posted a widely circulated Instagram live video in which she lauded the speed with which Ashraf's murderer was apprehended.
Ms Abou El Qomsan highlighted in her video how widespread incidents such as this are in Egypt and how more measures need to be taken to protect women.
What was most shocking was the fact that the murderer — who has since been referred to a criminal court in what is being called the fastest trial in Egypt’s history, set to take place on June 26 — was one of the faculty of arts’ top students.
“He was a fourth year student, one of the best in the whole university and also a troubled killer,” Ms Ayman said.
“It’s difficult to wrap one’s head around that. People always associate a college degree with civility or being polite or whatever, so I think a lot of people are shocked that this isn’t always the case.”
Residents who live or work on the street where the murder took place told The National that since Monday, mourners have been visiting Ashraf's memorial, with many breaking down in tears.
“I think the emotional state people are in is definitely because of how publicised the case got in the media,” said Abel Hegab, who witnessed the murder that happened a few metres from his shop.
“I mean, the loss of such a young woman is always a tragedy but things like this happen in Egypt and people don’t get so torn up.
“One man came here the day after and started ripping off his clothes in a state of hysteria. Everyone heard him screaming profanities at the killer who was in jail at the time and challenging him to try it again. It was like everyone lost their mind."
Many residents are calling Monday the blackest day in the city’s memory because, in addition to Ashraf's murder, a young man drove his car off a bridge and killed himself because his father refused to allow him to marry the woman he loved.
Furthermore, on the same day, a car accident in the city claimed the lives of three people, locals said.
As Sunday’s trial approaches, many of Ashraf's friends and family are concerned that her killer will not receive a death sentence, something they think he deserves.
A text chat between Ashraf and her killer shown to The National by Ms Ayman contained several death threats sent in the days leading up to her murder.
“I will separate your head from your body after what you did to me,” one message read, referring to her repeated rejections of his advances, which had been going on for months, leading Ashraf to stay home since the start of the spring term and only leave the house for exams, her friends said.
“This chat has not yet been shared with the authorities,” Ms Ayman said. “Her family, on the advice of their legal team, is keeping it under wraps until they see what strategy the killer’s lawyers take in their defence of him.
“What I and many people are worried about is that they prove that he was on drugs or that he wasn’t in a fit state of mind, which could definitely give him a more lenient sentence.”
Ashraf's friends referenced a similar incident last year in the Suez Canal city of Ismailia when a man beheaded another in the middle of a busy street.
“The Ismailia killer got the death sentence but then they reduced it to 15 years. I am worried this is what will happen to Nayera’s killer and that, in a decade or so, he will be out on the street killing again,” Ms Ayman said.
The way that Mansoura University reacted to Ashraf's murder has angered many of the city’s residents. The first statement issued by the university on Monday said that the murder did not take place inside the campus, which many people felt was an act of distancing itself from the case.
“They didn’t even offer condolences in the first notice they posted. That is not right. Two of your students’ lives are ruined and you respond in this way. That was truly disappointing,” Ms Ayman said.
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The Details
Kabir Singh
Produced by: Cinestaan Studios, T-Series
Directed by: Sandeep Reddy Vanga
Starring: Shahid Kapoor, Kiara Advani, Suresh Oberoi, Soham Majumdar, Arjun Pahwa
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BOSH!'s pantry essentials
Nutritional yeast
This is Firth's pick and an ingredient he says, "gives you an instant cheesy flavour". He advises making your own cream cheese with it or simply using it to whip up a mac and cheese or wholesome lasagne. It's available in organic and specialist grocery stores across the UAE.
Seeds
"We've got a big jar of mixed seeds in our kitchen," Theasby explains. "That's what you use to make a bolognese or pie or salad: just grab a handful of seeds and sprinkle them over the top. It's a really good way to make sure you're getting your omegas."
Umami flavours
"I could say soya sauce, but I'll say all umami-makers and have them in the same batch," says Firth. He suggests having items such as Marmite, balsamic vinegar and other general, dark, umami-tasting products in your cupboard "to make your bolognese a little bit more 'umptious'".
Onions and garlic
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Your grain of choice
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MATCH INFO
Azerbaijan 0
Wales 2 (Moore 10', Wilson 34')
Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
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Race card
4pm Al Bastakiya Listed US$300,000 (Dirt) 1,900m
4.35pm Mahab Al Shimaal Group 3 $350,000 (D) 1,200m
5.10pm Nad Al Sheba Turf Group 3 $350,000 (Turf) 1,200m
5.45pm Burj Nahaar Group 3 $350,000 (D) 1,600m
6.20pm Jebel Hatta Group 1 $400,000 (T) 1,800m
6.55pm Al Maktoum Challenge Round-3 Group 1 $600,000 (D) 2,000m
7.30pm Dubai City Of Gold Group 2 $350,000 (T) 2,410m
The National selections:
4pm Zabardast
4.35pm Ibn Malik
5.10pm Space Blues
5.45pm Kimbear
6.20pm Barney Roy
6.55pm Matterhorn
7.30pm Defoe
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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Honeymoonish
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Sunday's Super Four matches
Dubai, 3.30pm
India v Pakistan
Abu Dhabi, 3.30pm
Bangladesh v Afghanistan
VEZEETA PROFILE
Date started: 2012
Founder: Amir Barsoum
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: HealthTech / MedTech
Size: 300 employees
Funding: $22.6 million (as of September 2018)
Investors: Technology Development Fund, Silicon Badia, Beco Capital, Vostok New Ventures, Endeavour Catalyst, Crescent Enterprises’ CE-Ventures, Saudi Technology Ventures and IFC
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Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
Attacks on Egypt’s long rooted Copts
Egypt’s Copts belong to one of the world’s oldest Christian communities, with Mark the Evangelist credited with founding their church around 300 AD. Orthodox Christians account for the overwhelming majority of Christians in Egypt, with the rest mainly made up of Greek Orthodox, Catholics and Anglicans.
The community accounts for some 10 per cent of Egypt’s 100 million people, with the largest concentrations of Christians found in Cairo, Alexandria and the provinces of Minya and Assiut south of Cairo.
Egypt’s Christians have had a somewhat turbulent history in the Muslim majority Arab nation, with the community occasionally suffering outright persecution but generally living in peace with their Muslim compatriots. But radical Muslims who have first emerged in the 1970s have whipped up anti-Christian sentiments, something that has, in turn, led to an upsurge in attacks against their places of worship, church-linked facilities as well as their businesses and homes.
More recently, ISIS has vowed to go after the Christians, claiming responsibility for a series of attacks against churches packed with worshippers starting December 2016.
The discrimination many Christians complain about and the shift towards religious conservatism by many Egyptian Muslims over the last 50 years have forced hundreds of thousands of Christians to migrate, starting new lives in growing communities in places as far afield as Australia, Canada and the United States.
Here is a look at major attacks against Egypt's Coptic Christians in recent years:
November 2: Masked gunmen riding pickup trucks opened fire on three buses carrying pilgrims to the remote desert monastery of St. Samuel the Confessor south of Cairo, killing 7 and wounding about 20. IS claimed responsibility for the attack.
May 26, 2017: Masked militants riding in three all-terrain cars open fire on a bus carrying pilgrims on their way to the Monastery of St. Samuel the Confessor, killing 29 and wounding 22. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack.
April 2017: Twin attacks by suicide bombers hit churches in the coastal city of Alexandria and the Nile Delta city of Tanta. At least 43 people are killed and scores of worshippers injured in the Palm Sunday attack, which narrowly missed a ceremony presided over by Pope Tawadros II, spiritual leader of Egypt Orthodox Copts, in Alexandria's St. Mark's Cathedral. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attacks.
February 2017: Hundreds of Egyptian Christians flee their homes in the northern part of the Sinai Peninsula, fearing attacks by ISIS. The group's North Sinai affiliate had killed at least seven Coptic Christians in the restive peninsula in less than a month.
December 2016: A bombing at a chapel adjacent to Egypt's main Coptic Christian cathedral in Cairo kills 30 people and wounds dozens during Sunday Mass in one of the deadliest attacks carried out against the religious minority in recent memory. ISIS claimed responsibility.
July 2016: Pope Tawadros II says that since 2013 there were 37 sectarian attacks on Christians in Egypt, nearly one incident a month. A Muslim mob stabs to death a 27-year-old Coptic Christian man, Fam Khalaf, in the central city of Minya over a personal feud.
May 2016: A Muslim mob ransacks and torches seven Christian homes in Minya after rumours spread that a Christian man had an affair with a Muslim woman. The elderly mother of the Christian man was stripped naked and dragged through a street by the mob.
New Year's Eve 2011: A bomb explodes in a Coptic Christian church in Alexandria as worshippers leave after a midnight mass, killing more than 20 people.
Stage results
1. Julian Alaphilippe (FRA) Deceuninck-QuickStep 4:39:05
2. Michael Matthews (AUS) Team BikeExchange 0:00:08
3. Primoz Roglic (SLV) Jumbo-Visma same time
4. Jack Haig (AUS) Bahrain Victorious s.t
5. Wilco Kelderman (NED) Bora-Hansgrohe s.t
6. Tadej Pogacar (SLV) UAE Team Emirates s.t
7. David Gaudu (FRA) Groupama-FDJ s.t
8. Sergio Higuita Garcia (COL) EF Education-Nippo s.t
9. Bauke Mollema (NED) Trek-Segafredo s.t
10. Geraint Thomas (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers s.t
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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