Attack on Egyptian teenager ‘may have been case of mistaken identity’

A teenage student who died after allegedly being assaulted by a ten-strong gang of girls may have been attacked in a case of mistaken identity, her family believe.

Mariam Moustafa, 18, died on Wednesday, three weeks after being left in a coma following the brutal assault outside a shopping centre in Nottingham last month.

A post-mortem into her death has been inconclusive. A 17-year-old girl who was arrested on suspicion of assault occasioning grievous bodily harm is still in custody, Nottinghamshire Police said.

Relatives told how they believed the attack was racially motivated after the Egyptian national was targeted by the same group of girls the previous month.

It has also emerged that prosecutors in Rome have opened an investigation into the death. Ms Moustafa was born in the Italiancapital.theromeprosecutor is said to have asked UK authorities to share details of the investigation.

Her sister, Malak, 16, has now revealed the attackers may have got Mariam confused with a similar-looking girl who had been taunting them online.

It is thought that the gang were being taunted on Instagram by someone using the name “Black Rose” – a name the family originally thought was a racial slur.

Malak said: “The first time they attacked me and Mariam was in August last year, because they said we were staring at them. She recognised them from the first attack and tried to walk away, they started shouting at her and followed her.”