Man, woman sentenced to 3 yrs in prison in case of Arish student’s death

CAIRO - 5 May 2024: Two defendants have been sentenced to three years in prison in the case of the death of Nayera Salah, known in the media as “ the Arish student.”

One of the defendants, Shorouk, whose full name was withheld, was one of the victim’s colleagues. She is charged with taking copies of messages on Nayera’s phone in secret and then threatening her with the public disclosure of the messages. 

Taha, the second defendant, is a male and a friend of Shorouk. He stood inside the dock while Shorouk sat outside.

Shorouk’s lawyer requested that she be released to attend her university exams.

According to the prosecution, the accused woman shared a conversation forwarded from Nayera's phone with the accused man. He then threatened to share the conversation and claimed to possess compromising photos of Nayera, intending to distribute them within their colleagues' Whatsapp group.

The prosecution's investigation revealed that Nayera had visited two pesticides stores before her death and purchased pesticide tablets, which had been widely speculated as the method of her alleged suicide.

However, the exact cause of her death is still under investigation.