An Egyptian court sentenced a minor to 5 years in prison after being convicted of violating the modesty and blackmailing a girl, which led to her suicide. This incident sparked widespread outrage in the country a few months ago, according to a judicial official on Friday.
Basant Khaled, a 17-year-old student living with her family in a village near the city of Tanta (about 100 kilometers north of Cairo), committed suicide on December 23 by swallowing a toxic pill after photos attributed to her were published online, which were seen as damaging to her honor in a highly conservative rural community.
The minor, aged 16, was tried before the Tanta juvenile court, while 5 other defendants in the same case are being tried before the criminal court, with a verdict expected on May 10. The boy was sentenced to 2 years for the conviction of violating the modesty of the deceased girl, and the court also sentenced him to an additional 3 years in prison for publishing photographs and videos "without the victim's consent."
The boy was arrested in January following the overwhelming outrage triggered by the suicide of Basant Khaled after the dissemination of the photos and videos, which were seen online by her family, classmates, and teachers. A public prosecutor official stated that the girl was blackmailed for refusing to engage in sexual relations with a group of young men. After her suicide, the girl's father denied that the photos published online were of his daughter, insisting that her image was superimposed onto someone else's body.
