Egyptian authorities have arrested dozens of young men following the circulation of a shocking video showing a crowd of men harassing a woman in Mansoura after New Years' Eve celebrations.
The woman was allegedly attacked due to her wearing a short skirt while walking home with a friend after the evening's festivities.
2020 begins as 2019 ended in #Egypt .
— Amr Khalifa (@Cairo67Unedited) January 1, 2020
Brutal violence against women & a systematic absence of law & governance mechanisms to reign in the beasts:
this from Mansoura last night. pic.twitter.com/gXGcYNX1Ff
The video, which was verified by police on Thursday, shows several dozen men pushing around the young woman, who is screaming and clearly distressed, dressed in a black miniskirt and fur coat.
Some men are shown waving sticks and jumping on top of a car in which the woman eventually escaped. A handful of men helped get her into the vehicle so she could flee the assault in the Nile Delta city in the early hours of Wednesday.
Egypt's security forces have so far arrested 17 people suspected of being involved in the attack, and have questioned over 20 people who live and work near to the scene, as part of a wide-ranging probe into the incident.
Witnesses told local media that men started to verbally harass the woman as she walked down a street near Mansoura University, causing her to seek refuge in a nearby shop.
However, a crowd of men began to gather outside the shop, quarreling with the shop's owner until he forced the girl out so the mob would not storm the store.
Witnesses added that the woman attempted to hail a taxi but was blocked by the mob and separated from her friend.
The woman has not yet been identified, but police are investigating surveillance camera footage and tracing the car.
The hashtag #MansouraGirl circulated social media on Thursday following the outrage over the video.
This article has been adapted from its original source.
