Young Jordanian woman stabbed to death in UAE amid spate of attacks across region

A young Jordanian woman has been stabbed 16 times and found dead in her vehicle in Sharjah, the latest in a string of horrific attacks on young women across the Middle East this week. 

Police say they have recovered a young woman’s body in the eastern Emirati city and arrested a man on suspicion of murder. 

A mother had raised the alarm about the kidnap of her daughter by someone known to the family, noting it took place in the car parks of her residence in Sharjah.

After inspecting CCTV footage from the scene, police found images of the young woman being attacked in her car by an assailant, who stabbed her several times - and then fled driving the victim’s car, with her in the passenger seat. 

The investigative team then found her dead body nearby, still in her vehicle. 

After fleeing the vehicle to hide from the police, the accused man was found hiding on a beach, according to the police statement.

The motives of the suspect are not yet clear, but his identity is reportedly known by the victim’s family. 

“The suspect was arrested only two hours after the alarm was raised,” said the police, adding that “the murderer confessed to killing the victim after several personal disputes.” 

Two other murders in Egypt and Jordan in recent days have been a shocking reminder of the recurrent violence against women in the Middle East, and caused outrage and pain across the region.

It is not clear whether the perpetrator of the latest murder was influenced or emboldened by the recent killings - both reportedly crimes of passion linked by statements on social media. 

Last week, Egyptian student Naira Ashraf was stabbed outside the university she attended in Mansoura, north of Cairo.

Ashraf's family told local media she had rejected multiple marriage proposals from the man who is suspected of murdering her.

Then on Thursday, a Jordanian woman student was shot dead while leaving an exam at a university in Amman. 

In the hours after Arsheed's death, images circulated on social media of a message her killer purportedly sent to her, in which they vowed to kill her "like the Egyptian killed [Ashraf]" if she did not speak to them.