Egypt executes killer of university student Nayera Ashraf

Stabbing of 21-year-old woman outside Mansoura University shook the nation and sparked a debate about gender-based violence in Egypt

Mohammed Adel during his murder trial at Mansoura criminal court in June 2022. AFP

An Egyptian man who stabbed a young woman to death outside their university in Mansoura last year was executed by hanging on Wednesday morning,

Mohamed Adel attacked Nayera Ashraf, 21, in broad daylight outside the Mansoura University campus in June last year.

The case gained international attention and highlighted the problem of gender-based violence in Egypt.

Ashraf’s father, who was interviewed by local news outlets after the execution, said that while he was not happy because “my daughter will never return to me”, he respected that “God’s justice was served”.

Adel’s legal team had submitted several appeals against his death sentence, which was announced by a Mansoura criminal court a month after the murder. His final appeal, to the Court of Cassation, was rejected on February 9.

The killing grabbed nationwide attention after graphic footage of the attack, filmed by students and security cameras, was circulated online, with millions of Egyptians offering condolences. Several women dropped out of Mansoura University over fears for their safety.

The murder also sparked a debate about relationships after Adel confessed during his trial that he plotted to kill Ashraf because his marriage proposal to her had been rejected.

Many people expressed sympathy for Adel and called for a lighter penalty, including the high-profile lawyer Farid El Deeb, who defended former president Hosni Mubarak during his trial after the 2011 uprising that deposed him.

Mr El Deeb offered to appeal against the verdict on behalf of Adel, but passed away in October after a battle with cancer.

A few days after Ashraf's murder, the body of Egyptian television presenter Shaimaa Gamal, who had been missing for two weeks, was found buried in the garden of a private residence on the outskirts of Cairo. She had suffered severe head injuries and her face was disfigured by nitric acid.

In September, her husband, a prominent judge, and his driver, an accomplice who decided to come clean and exposed the crime, were both sentenced to death.

Two months after Ashraf's murder, Salma Bahgat, 22, a university student, was stabbed to death in the city of Zagazig by a male colleague whose romantic advances she rejected. In October Bahgat’s killer was sentenced to death.