Egyptian man held after 'decapitating friend, roaming streets with his head'

CAIRO: An Egyptian man has been remanded in custody on Tuesday after allegedly decapitating a friend and roaming the streets of a busy neighbourhood with his head in a basket for 40 minutes before police arrived at the scene, according to reports.

The man will be detained for 15 days pending further investigation into charges of murder and terrorising citizens in the Suez Canal city of Ismalia.

The perpetrator confessed to the crime, claiming he avenged his mother and sister who were allegedly sexually assaulted by the victim, according to reports.

Police arrested a man after he had beheaded his friend on the street in Ismailia, putting the head in a bag and carrying it through a busy neighbourhood while brandishing a large knife.

Locals who attempted to intervene were injured but the man was eventually overwhelmed before being handed over to the police.

Alleged witnesses on social media said it took police 40 minutes to arrive at the scene and that they were not present when locals apprehended the man.

The interior ministry later released a statement on its official Facebook account saying the accused man is "mentally disturbed" and had previously been admitted to a mental health facility for treatment with addiction.

The accused worked for a furniture store that belonged to the brother of the victim, the statement added.

The incident caused an uproar on social media. The hashtag "the Ismailia crime" and videos of the incident have gone viral, leaving social media users to criticise the apparent security vacuum in the city.

One Twitter user, sarcastically, wrote, posting a video segment of the incident:

“This is a horrific murder in Egypt... in the country of safety and security… which has become larger than life at the hands of #Sisi..where there is no thuggery or poverty…this is a civilisation run by a loser… Ismalia."

Another tweeted, posting pictures of the incident.

"Witnesses said…the incident lasted for about 45 minutes…and the police were summoned and didn't show up until the victim was decapitated and the offender left the crime scene. I swear to God, had the report to the police been about a [protester] holding a banner against Sisi, the police would have shown up in less than five minutes."