CAIRO – 26 July 2018: Chief Superintendent Rob Griffin of Nottinghamshire Police visited Egypt Thursday to update Mariam Moustafa's family about the investigation’s latest outcome. Egyptian student, Mariam, died in Nottingham last March.
Griffin said: “We understand the depth of interest, sadness and concern in Egypt and in the UK over Mariam’s death, and remain committed to see that justice is done,” according to the Nottingham-based West Bridgford Wire.
Griffin added that Nottinghamshire Police and colleagues from the East Midlands Major Crime Unit are professionally investigating the case, adding that they did not rule out the perception that the crime might have been encouraged by hate.
The UK Police earlier said there was no information to suggest the attack was motivated by racial hate, but authorities will "continue to keep an open mind."
He said that the evidence gathered during investigation was handed to the Crown Prosecution Service, which is the principal agency authorized with conducting criminal prosecutions in both England and Wales.
In late February, the 18-year-old engineering student was tragically attacked and put into a coma by 10 British women of African descent.
“Four months before the accident, two of the same 10 women abused my daughter in the street for no specific reason. We went to the police station and issued an official complaint; however, nothing happened,” Mariam's mother said in a video.
She added that when the 10 women saw Mariam in the street walking alone, they attacked her once again and dragged her about 20 meters.
“She managed to get up and run towards one of the buses, but they went after her and started to beat her again. Just one man tried to defend her, but no one else tried to interfere,” the mother said.
In a statement issued on March 2, Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson Ahmed Abu Zeid said they are following all of the case’s updates.
Abu Zeid said Egyptian authorities demanded the British authorities to take more serious steps in investigating the abusers, especially that they were captured by the CCTV cameras from the streets and bus where the incident took place.
The statement also accused the hospital where Mariam was taken of “negligence”, as they only gave her first aid treatment, while she needed more care; accordingly, she fell into coma shortly after.
On March 14, Mariam lost her life. “Mariam has been in coma for three days after she underwent a critical surgery in the brain to treat her deteriorated condition,” lawyer Emad Abu Hussein told Egypt Today, revealing that the hospital she was admitted to failed to treat her. “The hospital sent her home despite her severe cerebral hemorrhage,” Abu Hussein added.
British Ambassador to Egypt John Casson said during an interview in March with Egyptian satellite channel ON Live that the horrible assault on the Egyptian student is a crime against British values.
Addressing Mariam's family, Casson mourned the tragic loss of their daughter, calling the victim a promising student. Casson assured the family that the horrible crime will not pass unpunished and that justice will be served, adding that the British authorities are conducting a wide-scale investigation on the matter.
The victim’s lawyer said that by Mariam’s death the case defined itself as a murder case.
Mariam was born in Italy, and according to Italian local media, Italy's prosecution addressed its counterpart in the U.K. to join the investigation's proceedings. The Italian Foreign Ministry described the crime as “brutal”, adding that the Italian ambassador to the United Kingdom “is personally following the case in cooperation with the Egyptian counterpart.”
"In relation to the tragic case of compatriot Mariam Moustafa, brutally killed in Nottingham, we express our deep condolences and sympathy to her family, and additionally wish that those responsible for this atrocious crime are soon brought to justice," the Italian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
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