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Police say female student’s death not racially motivated

Officers said they identified the six women who allegedly assaulted Mariam on February 20.

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Egyptian student Mariam Moustafa died after an alleged attack by a group of women in Nottingham (Family handout/PA)

Police investigating the death of a female engineering student have said an assault on her was not racially motivated.

Mariam Moustafa was left in a coma after an attack on February 20 and died from her injuries on March 14.

The 18-year-old was allegedly punched several times during a confrontation with a group of six women in Parliament Street, Nottingham, at 8pm.

Mariam Moustafa, 18, in a coma before she died (Family handout/PA)
Mariam Moustafa, 18, in a coma before she died (Family handout/PA)

Chief Superintendent Rob Griffin of Nottinghamshire Police confirmed that the incident was reported as a racially motivated attack but the investigation has since revealed that this was not the case.

Mariam was taken to the Queen’s Medical Centre in the city then transferred to Nottingham City Hospital where she was treated until her death.

Speaking at a press conference on Monday, Mr Griffin said the policy in Nottinghamshire is to record a hate crime if anybody believes that to be the case.

Mariam Moustafa (Family handout/PA)
Mariam Moustafa (Family handout/PA)

“We now know that a group of six girls were involved in the incident and we believe that we have identified all six of those girls.”

Mr Griffin continued: “There have been many reports about an incident in August last year where Mariam and her sister had been assaulted.

“It had been reported in the media that Mariam had broken her leg and we now know that this was not the case.

“The level of investigation at that time was appropriate and unfortunately no suspects were identified at the time.”

Mariam Moustafa (Family handout/PA)
Mariam Moustafa (Family handout/PA)

Mariam’s father, Mohamed Moustafa, has called for “justice” for his daughter, who was “very kind” and “like an angel”.

Mr Griffin said he will be having conversations with both the Egyptian and Italian embassies throughout the course of the week.

The Nottingham-based student was born in Rome where her family had moved to from Egypt in 1991.

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