Two arrested in Egypt after teenage girl's suicide sparks outrage
- Published
Speak Up, an Egyptian feminist initiative, posted the text of a letter in which Basant protested her innocence
Two people have been arrested in Egypt after a teenage girl who was allegedly being blackmailed with digitally altered images killed herself.
The sister of Basant Khaled, 17, told the Youm7 news website that fake photos of her had been published when she refused to go on a date with a youth, external.
After they were seen by her fellow students, Basant became depressed and swallowed a poisonous pill, she said.
News of her death sparked outrage and demands for justice on social media.
The Arabic hashtag "Basant_Khaled's_right_must_be_returned" was trending on Twitter.
Many users posted a picture of a letter that Basant reportedly wrote to her mother, in which she protested her innocence.
"Mum, I hope you understand that I am not this girl. These photos are fake, I swear to God," the letter said, external.
"Mum, I'm a young girl and I don't deserve what is happening to me. I'm very depressed. I can't have anymore of this. I'm tired. I'm suffocating."
Basant's sister said: "We believed that she was innocent and tried to support her. But she wasn't able to endure people's comments."
She added: "We will not give up Basant's right. Whoever caused her death must be punished."
Fake images were allegedly created using photographs of Basant stolen from her mobile phone after she clicked on a link sent by the youth she had refused to date, Youm7 quoted the family's lawyer, external as saying.
The lawyer filed a complaint at a police station in the town of Kafr al-Zayat, in the northern province of Gharbia, that named the youth and one other person Basant accused of involvement before she died.
The interior ministry said Basant's father had not yet filed a complaint but that security forces had detained two suspects in response to news and social media reports and public prosecutors had begun an investigation into the allegations of blackmail.
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