On Tuesday, Egyptian police arrested two men for blackmailing a girl, with half-naked pictures of her, following which she committed suicide. The accuses reportedly photoshopped the pictures, made them look naked, of 17-year-old Bassant Khaled, and threatened to post them on social media.
They pulled off this act after she rejected to date one of two, as per the police officials. The police also informed that the duo was missing but have been arrested now. The officials are questioning them to unfold the matter.
Khaled was devastated and shattered; following this, she took her life by committing suicide. While doing so, she wrote a heartbreaking suicide note to her mother. Her note read, “Mom, please believe me! The girl in the picture is not me. They are photoshopped pictures, I swear to Lord. I am not the one who deserves this. I am depressed and suffocated as this is not me. You raised me well.”
She swallowed poisonous pills. Her dead body was found by her fellow friends.
This incident spread like a fire on the internet and created an uproar. Many netizens came forward and demanded justice for the teenager. For about two days, the “Basant Khaled’s right must be returned” hashtag has been trending on social media.
Amid this, girl’s sister made public statement and said that “We were trying to help her as we were aware that she was innocent but she wasn’t able to bare people’s comment.”
The police later clarified that Khaled’s family members did not file any blackmailing complaint. The public prosecution has investigated the allegation of blackmailing.
This incident has been condemned by Nihad Abo El Komsan, senior lawyer and chairwoman of the Egyptian Centre for Women’s Rights, and urged the government to grant strict punishment to the accuses. However, neither National Council for Women (NCW) nor the country’s public prosecution has released the statement.
