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Egypt: When Virginity is More Important than Murder

Categories: Middle East & North Africa, Egypt, Breaking News, Humanitarian Response, Law, Media & Journalism, Women & Gender

Egypt is gripped with the story [1] of a gruesome murder, in which two university students were killed, in the upscale Sixth of October City’s Sheikh Zayed district. One of the victims is the daughter of Moroccan singer Laila Ghofran.

This murder follows in the heels of yet another horrifying crime which claimed the life of Lebanese singer Suzanne Tameem [2], in Dubai, and in which an Egyptian businessman is accused of hiring a hitman to have her killed.

“Two girls were brutally killed in 6th of October city … But it became the talk of town because one of the victims is the daughter of 3rd degree Moroccan singer called Laila Ghofran,” writes Egyptian Chronicles [3].

And to make the incident more interesting to the readers, some papers started to spread rumors about the victims’ lifestyle.

Taboohat [4] writes about how the media and society as a whole are dealing with the murder:

كنت اعدة امام التليفزيون فرض عليا من امي وجدتي مشاهدة البيت بيتك
واللي كانت مستضيف اللواء معرفش مين رئيس مباحث 6 أكثوبر
واللي اعد يحكي علي الدلائل المؤكده اللي مفيش حاجة منها مؤكد واللي برضوا انا مش مهتمة بيها هنا
بس بجد اللي صدمني او وخضني هو انهاء الفقرة بتليفون من والد نادين واللي عمل حوار اد كده صدام
نبدأ والد ناين بالسلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبراكاته
وحشر في النص حلفان برب الكعبة والصلاة علي النبي والحمد والشكر لوزارة الداخلية ليه عشان اثبتوا براءة وشرف بنته

للحظة نسيت ان البنت اتقتلت وحسيت انهم بيدورا لها علي عريس
وافتكرت تاني اما اكمل السيد اللواء ان الطبيب الشرعي اثبت انها بيت بنوت وان كل اصدقاء الاب كانوا بيبركوله ويهنئوا امام النيابة …
بنته طلعت عزراء بجد ..
… ملعون ابوا ده مجتمع اللي خلي كل اللي فارق مع اب بينتوا اتقتلت من اسبوع ان بيتوا طلعت عزراء
وملعون ابوا ده مجتمع اللي حيفضل يحاسب البنات علي عزريتها وهي عايشة وهي ميتة
مش مهم انها اتقلت.. المهم انها عزراء
I was watching “El Beit Beitak” talkshow on the television with my mother and grandmother, and they were hosting some police officer who was talking about the crime, but what really grabbed my attention was the conversation he had on the phone with the parent of one of the victims – Nadine – who after saluting the audiences started to swear in the name of God that his daughter was innocent and that she was living alone and thanked the Ministry of Interior because they have proved that she was virgin.
And for a moment I forgot that the girl was murdered and thought that they were looking for a groom for her, especially when the officer said that the medical examiner has proved that the girl was virgin, and then all those who knew the victim's parents congratulated them because their daughter is now officially a virgin.
Damn such a society that makes a parent of girl who has just been murdered less than one week ago to care to prove that his daughter was virgin.
Damn such a society that punishes girls based on their virginity, whether they are alive or dead.
It's not important that she has been brutally killed, it's only important that she is still virgin.