A judge in Egypt has ordered that a man who fatally stabbed a student after she declined his marriage proposal be hanged on live television.
On July 6, the court sentenced 21-year-old Mohamed Adel to death for killing his classmate Naira Ashraf at Mansoura University after she rejected him.
To prevent future offences of this nature, the court has now demanded that his execution be televised live.
The court wrote to Parliament in a letter, “The broadcast, even if only part of the start of proceedings, could achieve the goal of deterrence, which was not achieved by broadcasting the sentencing itself.”
On June 20, a terrifying video showed Adel attacking Ashraf outside Mansoura University near the Nile Delta.
According to local media, she was about to take her final examinations.
The video shows Adel holding the knife while standing over Ashraf’s body. Ashraf was killed there and then while furious onlookers grabbed Adel.
Local media reported that she had been stabbed multiple times, including in the neck and chest.
According to evidence presented in court, after the female student declined his marriage proposal, the knifeman chased her and made up his mind to kill her.
The death penalty was initially considered by Mansoura Courthouse on June 28, and then a week later, the sentence was officially confirmed.
The decision, which was made public on July 24, was delayed by an appeal. In order for the execution to be broadcasted live, the court has now asked the government to modify the law governing death punishment.
Adel’s lawyer, Farid El-Deeb, who also served as the lead defence attorney for the late ex-president Hosni Mubarak, stated that the defence team still has 60 days to contest the death sentence imposed on Adel.