CAIRO, Feb 6 (Aswat Masriya) - Mourners gathered outside the Italian embassy in Cairo Saturday demanding that perpetrators involved in the mysterious death of Italian student Giulio Regeni are put on trial.     

Labour activist Sally Toma who attended the candlelight vigil said the point of the observance was to send a message to the Italian people, that "we will not leave the right of Giulio... we considered him from this country [Egypt] so he died like many of its people die."  

Regeni, a 28-year-old Ph.D. student, was a visiting scholar at the American University in Cairo. He conducted research on independent trade unions and was a Cairo contributor for the communist Italian newspaper il manifesto, writing under a pseudonym on the labor and trade union movement in Egypt.

His body was flown back to Italy earlier today, Egyptian state news agency MENA reported.

Mourners placed flowers at the door of the embassy and carrying signs in Arabic and Italian, one of which read, "Giulio is one of us, this is why he was killed like us."

Regeni disappeared on Jan. 25, on the fifth anniversary of the 2011 Uprising that toppled former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak.

Ten days later, Regeni’s body was found along the side of the Cairo-Alexandria desert road, marred by torture marks and bruises in different places, according to the chief prosecutor for accidents in Egypt's South Giza.

Hoda Kamel, also a prominent labour rights activist, said during the vigil that Egyptian authorities must announce the circumstances of the incident once the investigation is concluded.

Italy sent out a team of investigators to collaborate with Egyptian police on Friday. Italian news agencies including RAI and ANSA  had earlier said a team of investigators comprising seven men from Italian police and Interpol will take part in the investigation.

Since the incident, Egypt and Italy have engaged in high-level diplomatic efforts to follow up on the investigations procedures. 

On Thursday, Italy's foreign ministry summoned Egypt’s ambassador to Italy Amr Mostafa Kamal Helmy to express "shock" over the “tragic death" of Regeni, the ministry said in an official statement on its website.

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi offered his condolences to Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi in a phone call on Thursday. Sisi stressed that Egyptian authorities will continue their efforts to unravel the "mystery" behind Regeni’s death, reported state-run MENA news agency.