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Egyptian man kills woman for rejecting marriage proposal

The killing is the latest in a rising wave of violence against women in Egypt.

KHALED DESOUKI/AFP via Getty Images
A protestor holds a placard reading "The uprising of women in the Arab world" during a demonstration against sexual harassment in Cairo on Feb. 12, 2013. — KHALED DESOUKI/AFP via Getty Images

BEIRUT — A young female employee of Cairo University in Egypt’s Giza governorate was shot to death by her male coworker on Wednesday in the latest high-profile crime against women in the North African country.

According to local reports, a man identified as Ahmad H., 35, who worked at the university's Faculty of Agriculture, stormed into the office of the victim, Nurhan Hussein, 32, in the Faculty of Archeology and brandished his gun before firing six shots, killing her instantly. The suspect then fled the scene.

Security forces tracked down Ahmad in Matrouh governorate, to the west of the capital Cairo. When confronted by police, the suspect killed himself with the same weapon he used against Hussein, the Interior Ministry said in a Thursday statement.

According to local reports, Hussein had rejected years of repeated marriage proposals from Ahmad. Angered, Ahmad harassed Hussein and threatened her via text messages. Ahmad was arrested in 2018 for setting Hussein’s car on fire, according to the investigation led by the Giza Security Directorate.

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