Forgive me as I don't know how to do links. Has anyone heard of the story of Mariam Moustafa, an 18 year old Egyptian girl, who died on Wednesday after being attacked by a gang of girls in the city centre a month previously. It's a very upsetting story, exacerbated by the lack of coverage and outrage. I will try to summarise what I know. She was verbally abused by a group of 8 to 10 girls, who'd she'd had previous problems with, while visiting a shopping mall. She tried to board a bus to escape but they followed her and continued the abuse. When she got off the bus, they followed her and proceeded to beat her until she lost consciousness. She was discharged from hospital after five hours but readmitted after suffering a bleed to the brain the next morning. She died after a month. Since then only ONE girl has been arrested and bailed.
This probably bothers me the most because I have a ds her age and he was 'jumped' a couple of years ago. Two ladies risked their own safety and intervened. They called the police and then us. I'm so grateful to them. The police were fantastic although had the advantage that my son knew the boys. I can't believe no one protected Mariam on a busy street. Moreover I can't comprehend in this day of CCTV and social media, that these girls have not been identified. It makes me think of the Stephen Lawrence who really only got some kind of justice because the newspapers (give the Daily Mail some credit) wouldn't give up.
This has caused mass outrage in Egypt, where people are convinced that Mariam was treated differently because she is Muslim. I don't actually believe that but undoubtedly the police investigation is shocking and we should all be outraged.