Two men detained for 4 days pending investigation for assaulting Sudanese girl sexually in Egypt

CAIRO – 2 October 2020: Two men were detained for four days pending investigations over accusations of sexual assault against a Sudanese girl, according to a statement from the Egyptian prosecution on Friday.

 

Video footage went viral on Facebook on September 29, showing a group of men and teenagers harassing an African girl near a tuk-tuk, while she was returning home from her work in Zahraa Nasr City district, Cairo.

 

After checking the surveillance cameras in the site of the incident via using the advanced modern technologies, the security forces arrested the accused people, who are living in the slum area of Ezbet el-Haggana, in Nasr City.

 

According to the initial investigations, two out of nine who were arrested confessed that they sexually assaulted the girl as it has appeared in the video.  During the investigation, the girl said that one of the arrested men was defending her, while the seven others were watching.

 

The security forces reported the incident to the Child Help Line, which affiliates to the National Council for Childhood and Motherhood, as the Sudanese victim is minor. Meanwhile, the rest of the arrested people were released.

 

After the video was circulated on social media, the National Council for Woman (NCW) filed a lawsuit before the Attorney-General Hamada Al-Sawy’s office. The NCW thanked the Attorney-General for his quick response.

 

Since July 1, 2020, an anti-harassment campaign was re-launched in Egypt to get rid of this phenomenon in society and encourage girls and victims to report such incidents.

 

The Egyptian cabinet approved new amendments to the Criminal Code per which the identity of sexually-assaulted victims shall not be revealed.  Revealing victims’ identities is punishable for up to 6 months in prison and a fine of no more than 5,00 EGP.  The NCW will speak on behalf of the victims when they report about such crimes “to protect the reputation of the victims, by not revealing their identity in crimes related to indecent assault, corruption of morals, exposure to others, and harassment,” according to a statement from the Egyptian Cabinet early July.