Man suspected of killing Egyptian student found dead after 'suicide'

Ahmed Fathy allegedly shot neighbour, 19, after her family rejected his marriage proposal then used same weapon to kill himself

Police in Egypt have dealt with a series of murders of young women. Reuters

An Egyptian man suspected of murdering a young woman after her family rejected his marriage proposal was found dead by police on Sunday.

Ahmed Fathy, 29, killed himself with the same shotgun he used to murder Amany El Gazzar, 19, in the province of Menoufia on Saturday, the interior ministry said.

A prosecution investigation has been launched into his suspected suicide, the ministry said.

Fathy had waited on Saturday afternoon for El Gazzar to leave her home before shooting her in the back with a shotgun and fleeing, police told The National.

The victim died on the way to hospital. Police searched for the man until he was found on Sunday night in a nearby village in the same province.

El Gazzar was a student of physical education at a university in Menoufia city.

Her father, a schoolteacher, had recently rejected a marriage proposal from Fathy, police said. They said this was due to his bad behaviour and because his highest academic achievement was a technical diploma, a lower-level secondary school certificate that qualifies holders only for manual jobs.

The victim’s family witnessed the shooting from their window, residents of the village said.

She is the latest in a series of young women allegedly murdered by men whose marriage proposals they had rejected.

Perhaps the most gruesome was that of Nayera Ashraf, 21, in the city of Mansoura in June. She was repeatedly stabbed while outside the walls of Mansoura University where she and her killer were enrolled. Ahmed Adel confessed and was sentenced to death in early July.

Less than two months after Ashraf’s murder, another student, Salma Bahgat, 22, was also allegedly stabbed to death by a former lover after breaking up with him.

The trial of her alleged attacker is under way.

The killings have brought young women's safety to the forefront of Egypt's national conversation.