Body of disappeared man found in his fiancée’s house

CAIRO - 29 August 2018: Bassam Osama, a student at the British University in Egypt (BUE), fell in love with Habiba and he proposed to her and met her family. Before making the engagement official, he came to know the history of the family he was about to join.

What he learnt about her father Ashraf G. was stunning. The man forged his own death after he was sentenced to 15 years in prison for drug smuggling. He also forged five national ID cards, and is living with a fake identity.

Bassam confronted Ashraf with those findings. At first, he denied but later he admitted to committing all those crimes. Bassam did not realize that would be the reason for his own demise.

Habiba called Bassam on Aug. 19 and asked him to meet her in Al Rehab, a gated residential city in New Cairo where she lives. Bassam came after the call that lasted for only 40 seconds.

The father used eight persons to kidnap Bassam and brought him to the family house to meet his fate.

Bassam’s family reported his disappearance to the police who tracked his movement through his mobile phone until they reached Habiba. Bassam’s parents accused the family of kidnapping him and thus Habiba, her father and their driver got arrested.

Habiba denied having anything to do with Bassam’s absence. Later, the driver admitted he gave Bassam a ride to an apartment in Rehab. When they arrived to the place, the police found the body, which was beginning to decompose. As a result, the father and two others were referred to the public prosecution.

The father admitted that he committed the crime in fear Bassam would report him to the authorities. He said he tied his hands and legs, and stabbed him.

“I put the body in a coffin. I added pebbles, cement and coal to inhibit the spread of the odor,” Ashraf said explaining that he buried the coffin in the kitchen’s floor of one of the apartments owned by his wife, who is also a fugitive of several jail sentences. Habiba and her mother fled to the Red Sea but they were found and arrested.

Al Rehab witnessed another crime a few months ago when an entire family was shot dead. Investigations found out that the father killed his wife and children before committing suicide due to financial crises.