Egypt: Teen’s Suicide Leads to Two Arrests

Two young men have been arrested by the Egyptian authorities after they allegedly blackmailed a teenage girl who ultimately committed suicide.

Last Friday, 31 December, 17-year-old Basant Khaled, who hailed from the village of Kafr el-Zayat in Gharbia Governorate, died after she swallowed an agricultural pesticide.

Khaled’s suicide was prompted after digitially altered images of her spread throughout the village. These were allegedly created and distributed by the two suspects, one of whom had asked Khaled on a date but was subsequently rejected.

In a suicide note reportedly left behind by Khaled, she pleaded to her mother that the photos were fake. She added: “I’m very depressed. I can’t have anymore of this. I’m tired. I’m suffocating.”

The suspects were taken into questioning on Tuesday, 4 January, and it is Khaled’s family’s hope that justice will be served.

Her sister said: “We believed that she was innocent and tried to support her. But she wasn’t able to endure people’s comments. We will not give up Basant’s right. Whoever caused her death must be punished.”

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