Egypt's Ministry of Foreign Affairs is closely following up on an attack in the UK on 18-year-old Egyptian student Mariam Abdel-Salam, who fell into a coma after being assaulted on 20 February, the ministry's spokesperson Ahmed Abu Zeid said in a statement on Friday. Abdel-Salam, who lives with her family in Nottingham and is a Central College engineering student in Beeston, was punched repeatedly and verbally assaulted by a group of women in a crowded area near a mall in London, according to a report by local newspaper Nottingham Post. City police said that Abdel-Salam has recovered from the coma but is still in intensive care at Queen's medical centre, according to the Nottingham Post. The Egyptian consulate and embassy in London are in contact with the victim's family, the municipal authority, the UK foreign ministry, and the hospital where Abdel-Salam is being treated, the foreign ministry's statement added. The Egyptian embassy has also been in communication with the head of the Egyptian Medical Association in the UK to follow up on Abdel-Salam's medical condition, the statement said. According to the Nottingham Post, Abdel-Salam's younger sister said "we don't understand who would do this to her, she is very quiet and never gets involved in any problems. She was originally released from hospital on the same day and once we got her home she started to deteriorate and so she was rushed back to hospital." The Egyptian foreign ministry, through its embassy in London, is stressing that local police should take the incident seriously and arrest those responsible for the "brutal attack," especially given that the incident was recorded on a bus camera. A 17-year-old female suspect was arrested on Friday in connection with the attack, the Nottingham Post reported. Source: Ahram online
