Righting Egypt’s Old Wrongs

Egypt’s public prosecution is seeking the arrest of nine suspects accused of gang-raping a woman, including seven who have fled the country. The rape allegedly took place six years ago at a luxury hotel in the capital, Cairo, but the allegations emerged online in July only. “The public prosecution is taking legal steps to arrest the fugitives who are accused of assaulting a young woman at the Fairmont Nile City Hotel in 2014,” a statement said. The police informed the prosecution that “seven of the accused who face an arrest warrant have flown out of the country”, it added. The prosecution said it was also trying to track down two other suspects in the case, one of whom had allegedly been “accused in a similar [rape] case”.  It did not identify the suspects. A statement on Monday had said the suspects were on an airport watchlist. Lack of action over the 2014 incident, that was reported to have involved six men from powerful families, caused an uproar online after being disclosed in July by Assault Police, an Instagram account with more than 180,000 followers that aims to expose sex attackers and push for justice for rape and sexual assault survivors. In early August, the prosecution launched a probe after receiving a letter from a national women’s association, which included a complaint from a young woman who claimed she had been gang-raped at the Fairmont in 2014.

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA