Ramadan Abdel Rehim Mansour (Arabic: رمضان عبدالرحيم منصور; c. 1980[1] – December 16, 2010), also known as al-Tourbini (التوربيني; lit. 'express train'), was an Egyptian street gang leader and serial killer who raped and murdered at least 32 children and youth in the course of seven years, throughout several locations in Egypt including Cairo, Alexandria, Qalyoubeya and Beni Sueif.[2][3][4] All of his victims were 10 to 14 years old, most of them boys.[4] Mansour was arrested in 2006 along with his six accomplices, and subsequently executed.[5]
Ramadan Abdel Rehim Mansour رمضان عبدالرحيم منصور | |
|---|---|
| Born | c. 1980 |
| Died | December 16, 2010 (aged 30) Burj Al Arab Prison, Egypt |
| Cause of death | Execution by hanging |
| Other names | Al-Tourbini (التوربيني) |
| Occupation | Street gang leader |
| Criminal status | Executed |
| Conviction(s) | Murder |
| Criminal penalty | Death |
| Details | |
| Victims | 32+ |
Span of crimes | 2004–2006 |
| Country | Egypt |
Crimes
editMansour left his home in Tanta, a town north of Cairo, and joined a street gang at an early age. Gang leaders taught him skills of survival, allegedly cutting him with razors whenever he made a mistake.[4] According to his confession, Mansour soon learned how to get back at those who crossed him: raping them, and murdering anyone who threatened to go to the police afterwards.[4] One of the victims, 12-year-old boy Ahmed Nagui, had been a member of Mansour's gang. When Mansour tried to sexually assault him, Nagui reported him to the police, and Mansour was arrested but was released for lack of evidence. Soon after, Mansour raped and murdered Nagui in retaliation, according to the prosecutors.[4]
Mansour frequently traveled between Cairo and Alexandria by train. He felt safer in Alexandria because it had fewer police officers.[4] The Vice Department of Borg El-Arab police station in Alexandria started keeping a profile on him during this time.[4] Mansour and his gang members lured street children onto the carriage roof of the trains, where they then stripped, raped and tortured them, and tossed them naked onto the trackside, dead or barely alive.[2][4] Some of the children were dumped into the Nile, or buried alive.[4] Mansour and his gang's crimes came to light in 2006 when two of his gang members were arrested, and Mansour acquired the nickname al-Tourbini, meaning "express train", from his favorite location for the crimes.[2] After the arrest, Mansour reportedly told prosecutors that he was possessed by a female jinn who commanded him to commit the crimes.[4] Mansour, along with his accomplice Farag Samir Mahmoud, also known as "Hanata", were convicted and sentenced to death by the criminal court in Tanta in 2007.[5] Mansour and Mahmoud were both executed by hanging at Burj Al Arab Prison on Thursday, December 16, 2010.[6][7]
Five other accomplices were also convicted in the case, but spared execution. They instead received prison sentences ranging between three and forty years.[8]
Commercialization of the name
editSoon after the arrest, al-Ahram, a widely circulated Egyptian newspaper, reported that some products in Egypt were being named after Mansour's nickname, "al-Tourbini".[1][2] Several restaurants in Mansour's hometown, Tanta, started selling a so-called "al-Tourbini sandwich", allegedly in demand by young locals.[1][2] Sheep merchants gave the name "al-Tourbini" to the large-size lamb priced at more than E£2,000.[1] Some tuk-tuk drivers named their vehicles "al-Tourbini" to attract customers.[1] According to al-Ahram, the "strangest such marketing ploy" was that of owners of supermarkets and communications centers in Tanta were renaming their businesses "al-Tourbini: The Butcher of Gharbia". Author and journalist John R. Bradley commented in his book Inside Egypt: The Land of the Pharaohs on the Brink of a Revolution that "this reaction borders on the incomprehensible, but what it clearly indicates is that something has gone terribly wrong" with contemporary Egyptian society.[9]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c d e Maged, Ahmed (December 29, 2006). "'Turbini' murders sensationalized". Daily News Egypt. Archived from the original on February 14, 2010. Retrieved January 20, 2009.
- ^ a b c d e Bradley, John R. (2008). Inside Egypt: The Land of the Pharaohs on the Brink of a Revolution. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 199–200. ISBN 978-1-4039-8477-7.
- ^ "Qatr an-Nada: Towards a Fair Start for Children in the Arab World" (PDF). Arab Resource Collective. 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 27, 2011. Retrieved January 20, 2009.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j el-Jesri, Manal (January 2007). "Killing Kids". Egypt Today. Archived from the original on December 9, 2008. Retrieved January 20, 2009.
- ^ a b "World News Quick Take: Gang leaders get death". The Taipei Times. May 25, 2007. Archived from the original on June 11, 2008. Retrieved January 20, 2009.
- ^ Radi, Sami Abdel (December 16, 2010). "Convicted Child Rapists, Murderers Executed by the State". Egypt Independent. Archived from the original on March 24, 2022. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
- ^ "إعدام "التوربيني" ومساعده في قضية "أطفال الشوارع" | المصري اليوم". www.almasryalyoum.com (in Arabic). Archived from the original on January 18, 2018. Retrieved March 25, 2022.
- ^ "Convicted child rapists, murderers executed by state". Egypt Independent. December 16, 2010. Archived from the original on March 24, 2022. Retrieved February 7, 2022.
- ^ Bradley, John R. (2008). Inside Egypt: The Land of the Pharaohs on the Brink of a Revolution. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 200. ISBN 978-1-4039-8477-7.