Mufti approves death sentence for killer of Egyptian student Naiyera Ashraf

The Mansoura Criminal Court sentenced the murderer of the student, Naiyera Ashraf, to death on Wednesday, after the Mufti approved the Court’s unanimous decision of execution.

The convict was found guilty of premeditatedly killing Naiyera Ashraf, a Mansoura University student, who was treacherously murdered in front of the university’s gate. He stabbed the victim to death in a public street after she rejected his advances — a case that has sparked widespread outrage.

A video of the crime went viral, showing the victim, identified as Naiyera Ashraf, 21, being stabbed by a young man outside her university. The crime triggered widespread anger both in Egypt and beyond, having been followed a few days later by a similar incident in which Jordanian student Iman Irshaid was shot dead on a university campus.

Naiyera had previously reported the alleged perpetrator to the authorities, fearing that he would attack her, according to her father and witnesses. The maximum penalty for murder is death in Egypt. "He stabbed her several times," said the prosecution, which found "messages threatening to cut her throat" on the victim's phone.