A 13-year-old schoolboy allegedly murdered his classmate, sawed his body into pieces and ate them “out of curiosity”. The teenager killed his friend, Mohamed, by beating him with a wooden stick before using a power saw to cut his body into small parts that would fit into his school rucksack.

The killer reportedly lured his classmate to his family’s home in Ismailia’s Al-Mahatta Al-Jadida district on October 20, 2025. While alone, the child cannibal said he repeatedly hit the victim on the head with a stick until he died. The suspect, known as Youssef A, said he was reenacting the murder scenes which he saw in films and online games. The killer explained that he wanted to “try the way” he had seen online. Police officers were made aware of the attack after the victim’s remains were found near a shopping centre. 

After conducting a search, the authorities then found further severed pieces of the victim under a bridge, in a pool and on an open field. 

Youssef admitted to the killing and using an electric saw to dismember his victim. He also said he scattered his remains across the city in Egypt. 

The suspect added that he ate part of the victim’s body “out of curiosity” and explained that it was “similar to breaded chicken”. 

The child cannibal was made to re-enact the crime for investigators, leading police around the city to the places he had disposed of the body parts. 

The suspect was transferred to a juvenile care facility after being detained for four days by Public Prosecution. He remained there for a week while judges reviewed his case. 

Youssef also underwent a full physical examination, drug testing and forensic analysis to compare samples with Mohamed’s. 

Investigators continue to look into the violent film and video content which he said influenced him to conduct the gruesome act. The case ignited calls for children to have greater protection from graphic content, with increased supervision from parents. 

The case begs the question – plenty of children watch gruesome movies without then eating their friends. What did Youssef see in these media that led to his curiosity? The movies offered the blueprint for homicidal techniques, but behind all that is the isolation that saw two children on their own long enough for mayhem to ensue, and the constant reiteration of the cheapness of life, both human and non-human, that led a child to wonder what difference there might be between a friend, and a breaded chicken.