Accused murderer of Cairo University employee takes own life during arrest

A female employee at Cairo University was killed after being shot inside the university campus by another employee. 

Subsequently, the security authorities reported that the perpetrator had committed suicide. Official media outlets have reported that his motive was her refusal to marry him.

This incident adds to the ongoing series of crimes of violence against women in Egypt.

The Egyptian Ministry of Interior released a statement on Wednesday night, indicating, "Through investigations, it was possible to determine the whereabouts of the (suspect) in Matrouh Governorate (northwest). 

When security forces targeted him, he committed suicide by firing a gunshot at himself from the same weapon," referring to the firearm he was accused of using to kill his colleague.

The attempt to apprehend the suspect was initiated after an employee at one of the colleges at Cairo University allegedly fired gunshots at another employee from a different college within the same university, leading to her death.

While a statement from the public prosecutor has not been issued yet, the official newspaper "Al-Ahram" reported that investigations revealed that the victim, aged 32, "knew the killer and he had proposed to her a long time ago. 

However, she rejected him, which angered him and led him to harass her, attempting to force her into accepting his proposal."

Furthermore, according to the investigations, "The accused had previously set fire to the victim's car five years ago and had threatened her through messages on her phone. He had been imprisoned due to those cases."

This incident at Cairo University occurred a day after the killing of a young woman in her workplace in the Maadi district of eastern Cairo. She was shot by a man who has since been apprehended.

Egyptian media outlets reported that "security investigations revealed that she (the victim) had been engaged to the perpetrator some time ago, but they had separated due to problems between them."

Over the past two years, Egypt has witnessed similar crimes rooted in the same motives, sparking widespread discussions on social media platforms.

The non-governmental organization "Edrak for Development and Equality" in Egypt posted a comment on Facebook regarding these incidents, stating, "Yesterday and the day before, two girls were killed in Cairo solely because they refused to marry the killer."

The organization added, "In the past year, five women were killed simply because they rejected the killer's marriage proposal, and three others have been targeted. In 2021, one girl was killed, and another was targeted for refusing to marry the perpetrator."

In this context, they emphasized, "These are not just numbers, but women who had dreams, aspirations, and lives. The perpetrator decided to end them simply because they rejected him."

The observatory for crimes of violence against women at the organization recorded over a thousand incidents of violence against women in 2022, including 301 cases of women and girls being killed in various age groups.

In June, the Egyptian authorities carried out the death penalty for the murderer of student Noura Ashraf, who was stabbed during the day with a knife in front of her university in Mansoura in the Nile Delta last year. 

Her refusal to marry the perpetrator was the motive, and the incident sparked outrage among the public.


AFP