The Murder of Salma Bahgat

Events before the murder

Salma Bahgat was a university student studying mass communication. Egyptian prosecution reporting stated that fellow student Islam Mohamed had pursued a relationship with her and later threatened her after she ended contact and rejected his attempts to continue the relationship.

Prosecutors said he had also threatened members of Salma's family and had previously attempted to locate her. These allegations became part of the prosecution's evidence of planning and intent.

The killing and arrest

On August 9, 2022, Salma was killed in the entrance area of a building in Zagazig, the capital of Sharqia Governorate. Bystanders detained the suspect at the scene until police arrived.

The Public Prosecution rapidly assembled witness statements, forensic material, phone records and digital evidence. Contemporary reporting based on prosecution statements said that the defendant admitted the killing during the investigation. This page does not reproduce the graphic forensic details widely reported at the time.

Trial and conviction

The prosecution referred Islam Mohamed to criminal trial on a charge of premeditated murder. In November 2022, the Zagazig Criminal Court sentenced him to death after receiving the legally required, non-binding opinion of Egypt's Grand Mufti.

The conviction distinguished the case from the initial allegation stage: the court found premeditation proven and imposed the maximum penalty available under Egyptian law.

Final appeal

The case continued through Egypt's appellate process. In May 2025, the Court of Cassation rejected the defense appeal and upheld the death sentence, making the judgment final.

Because some contemporaneous outlets differed on Salma's exact age, this archive does not force a single number into the dossier. The core facts of her identity, university status, the 2022 murder and the final criminal judgment are consistent across the principal sources reviewed.

Execution in 2026

Egyptian prison authorities carried out the sentence against Islam Mohamed Fathy on April 6, 2026, after the judgment had become final and all ordinary levels of litigation had been exhausted. Multiple Egyptian outlets reported that the execution took place at Badr Prison.

Current status

The case is Solved / Adjudicated. A criminal conviction for premeditated murder was entered in 2022, the Court of Cassation made the judgment final in 2025, and the sentence was carried out on April 6, 2026.