Egypt’s Ministry of Interior has announced that seven have been arrested on suspicion of sexually assaulting up to four women during celebrations for the inauguration of Egypt’s new President. The arrests came after outrage on social media following the release of a graphic video on YouTube showing a woman stripped naked, beaten and assaulted in the Square that was once the epicentre of the January 25 revolution The original video, which can be viewed here [warning extremely distressing and graphic], has received more than 100,000 views in less than 24 hours. Yet, it was another video of a Tahrir Channel television host excusing the sexual assault that has received an even greater response. When told of multiple reports of sexual assaults at Tahrir Square, the female anchor Maha Bahnassy laughs and exclaims “they’re just happy!” While the anchor has apologized for the remarks, which she says were a mistake, social media users have called for a boycott of Tahrir channel. The government responds The Ministry of Interior responded almost immediately to the sexual assault claims, confirming that four women had been raped or assaulted. The women include a pregnant woman…
Seven arrested over brutal rape and assault of women in Egypt’s Tahrir Square
June 9, 2014
