Egypt’s Zagazig court sentences murderer of university student Salma Bahgat to death

CAIRO – 7 November 2022: Zagazig Criminal Court sentenced university student Islam Mohamed to death over deliberately murdering his colleague, Salma Bahgat, in August in northern Egypt’s Sharkia governorate.

Egyptian Public Prosecution referred in August Mohamed to the criminal trial over killing his female colleague after he was charged with premeditated murder.

According to the prosecution, Mohamed stabbed Bahgat with the aim of killing her after she and her family refused his proposal due to his “strange thoughts, bad behavior, and after she stopped communicating with him”.

The prosecution said he threatened her and some of her family that he would kill her, noting that they ignored the threats.

Mohamed bought a knife and waited for Bahgat inside a building that he knew she would be in at the time of crime and stabbed her to death.

Within 48 hours, the prosecution has established its evidence against the defendant by listening to the testimony of 15 witnesses besides forensic reports and by checking the phones of the defendant, the victim, and her friend.

The prosecution said there is also a digital data indicating that Mohamed committed the crime.

The defendant also confessed the crime in details during the prosecution’s investigations and the specialized court.

Social media users have been in a state of shock since the crime took place few days ago, with Mohamed stabbing the victim many times, causing her to die instantly.

The suspect was immediately taken into custody by security in the area, as ambulances rushed Bahgat's body to the morgue at Al-Ahrar Hospital.

The crime brought back to memory the murder of university student, Nayera Ashraf, in Al-Mansoura by her colleague who stabbed her several times for refusing his proposal.

Mohamed Adel, the murderer of Ashraf, has received a death sentence but the ruling was appealed. The Court of Cassation will take the final decision on Adel’s death sentence.