Blog

Murder of Women University Students
In Egypt & Jordan

Bassam Michael Madany

27 June 2022

While the Arab world struggles with current issues in Iraq, the Gulf, Syria, and the never-ending Israeli-Palestinian relations; the recent murders of an Egyptian University student and of a Jordanian University student, illustrate what Arab women still face in society.

On Monday, 20 June 2022, the Cairo Ahram Online published news about “the murder of a female student at Mansoura University, north of Cairo,  who had her throat slit with a knife by a male colleague.” It continued with these gruesome details:

“The prosecution examined the victim’s body and found injuries on her neck, chest, and other areas. A video of the incident has been widely circulated on social media, showing a man cutting a woman’s throat on a busy street before he was restrained by bystanders.”

One Arab website reported the following: “Around twenty witnesses were interviewed including the victim’s parents and sister. They explained that the assailant had hoped to marry their daughter who showed no interest in his proposal. When he persisted in his efforts, they reported him to the authorities and got a written promise to cease and desist in his efforts to get a positive response.” The murderer did not keep his promise and committed his heinous crime! 

While the following Arabic links were meant for an Arab audience, please watch them to fathom the depth of the sorrow of the speakers.

The first link is about the murder of the Egyptian university student.
(265) مقتل طالبة جامعية يحيي الجدل حول العنف ضد المرأة في مصر - YouTube                        

This link has the comment of an Egyptian human-rights activist:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ra6-u9Hjnng

In this link, there is an editorial by an Egyptian journalist about the shocking discrimination against women in Arab/Muslim societies, fostered by religious leaders. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wq7BlbbLRKs&t=898s

Soon after the murder of Nera Ashraf, the Egyptian student, a similar crime took place in Amman, Jordan, at a university campus. “The Jordan Times carried a report on the murder.

“Police on Thursday, 23 June, who were searching for a suspect who shot and killed a university nursing student earlier in the day. The victim, Iman Ersheid, a student at the Applied Science Private University, was gunned down by an unidentified assailant who was wearing a cap.

“The victim’s brothers posted several statements on their Facebook page, expressing shock and outrage over the murder of their sibling. The victim’s father told media outlets that he dropped his daughter at the university to sit for an exam. Almost two hours later, the father received a call from police that his daughter was being treated at a hospital. When he arrived at the hospital, he was told that his daughter was shot to death by an unidentified man. 

“The university dean Zakaria Mubashir told a local media outlet, the security personnel at the university first thought the gunshots were firecrackers but later realised that a student was shot,’ When they attempted to stop the suspect, he managed to escape. The victim was rushed to a nearby hospital where she eventually died.” 

On Monday, 27 June, “Jordanian police said a man suspected of shooting dead a female student at a university in Amman died in hospital on Monday after shooting himself. The murder’s name, Oday Hassan, was in his late 30s.”  

It is my fervent hope and prayer, that such barbaric murders would never happen again.