Seeking the opinion of the grand mufti is a necessary procedure before issuing a death sentence as per Egypt's penal code. However, the opinion itself is not binding.

The court has set 3 November as the date to issue a preliminary verdict on the defendant.

Salma Bahgat, a 20-year-old student who was studying mass communication at Shorouk Academy, was stabbed on 12 August multiple times with a knife by Islam Mohamed, a 22-year-old colleague, according to a prosecution statement.

The incident took place in the lobby of a building in the city of Zagazig, the capital of Sharqiya governorate in the Nile Delta.

Following the attack, bystanders rushed to the scene of the crime and detained the suspect by closing the gates of the building until police arrived.

The prosecution said Mohamed decided to murder Bahgat after she and her relatives had turned down his marriage proposal due to his “bizarre mindset [and] bad behaviour.”

The defendant found out the victim’s location by deceiving one of her friends, whom she was set to meet in the building where the crime took place, the prosecution noted.

The defendant confessed to killing Bahgat in detail during the public prosecution’s investigation and before a specialised court.

The incident, which stirred public uproar, took place less than two months after 21-year-old student Mohamed Adel killed his fellow student at Mansoura University, Nayera Ashraf, also in broad daylight after she had rejected his advances.

In July, a criminal court issued a death penalty against Adel who appealed the ruling before the Court of Cassation.