An Egyptian court convicted the killer of Nayiera Ashraf of premediated murder and sentenced him to death on Tuesday, according to local media reports.
Ashraf, 21, was killed last week by Mohammed Adel for reportedly rejecting his marriage proposal.
In a video widely circulated on social media sparking outrage across the region, Adel can be seen stabbing Ashraf in front of her university before finally slitting her throat.
For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
The verdict, handed down in Mansoura north of Cairo after the case opened on Sunday, will now be referred to the grand mufti, Egypt’s top theological authority – a formality in death penalty cases.
The final verdict will be announced on July 6, Youm7 reported.
“He made a plan to kill her. He chose a time when he knew she will be on the bus heading to university for exams. He carried a knife, took the same bus then followed her and stabbed her multiple times before deliberately slitting her throat for the purpose of killing her,” Youm7 reported citing details from the case file.
The victim previously reported Adel to the authorities, fearing that he would attack her, her father and other witnesses told AFP.
In an interview with Al Arabiya on Sunday, Ashraf’s mother said Adel held a “grudge” against her daughter, adding that he had been harassing her for two years.
She also dismissed his testimonies in court, in which he claimed that Ashraf threatened him, as lies.
“This is not love. If you love someone, you wouldn’t do this to them. He’s possessive and selfish,” the mother said.
Read more:
Tributes to Lubna Mansour pour in following her murder in Sharjah
Egyptian judge allegedly murders wife, burns her face with nitric acid
