Jilted Egyptian executed a year after killing female classmate

Cairo: A young Egyptian, convicted of killing his female university classmate in public, was executed nearly a year after the murder that triggered an outcry.

On July 6 last year, a criminal court in the Delta city of Mansoura handed down a death sentence to 21-year-old Mohammad Adel on charges of premediated murder in the case that has sent shockwaves across Egypt.

On February 9, Egypt’s top Court of Cassation turned down an appeal filed by the convict, making the death ruling final. The ruling was also approved by Egypt’s Mufti of the Republic, a routine procedure in cases involving death verdicts in the mostly Muslim country.

His execution was carried out inside the Gamasa prison in the Delta governorate of Dakahlia on Wednesday and the man’s body was later handed over to his family burial, Egyptian media reported.

Prior to his execution, Adel behaved hysterically and requested a message be conveyed to his mother, Al Masry Al Youm newspaper quoted security sources as saying. “Forgive me, mum. I killed because of love,” his alleged message read. The victim, named Naira Ashraf, was knifed to death by Adel outside the state Mansoura University, north of Cairo, on June 20,2022 after she had rejected his marriage proposal.

“My daughter won’t return. I am not happy, but this is Allah’s justice,” Naira’s father said, commenting on the killer’s execution.

“For sure, she’ll now rest in her grave,” the father added in media remarks.

The murder of Naira, a sociology student at Mansoura University, has provoked public outrage and grabbed massive media attention in Egypt and beyond.

Under Egyptian law, execution is carried out inside prison in the presence of a deputy prosecutor-general, the prison chief, a doctor and a representative of a religious authority based on the inmate’s religious affiliation.