A file photo of Egypt's Prosecutor General Hamada El-Sawy (Photo:Al-Ahram)
Egypt’s Prosecutor-General Hamada El-Sawy ordered on Wednesday an investigation into a recent rape allegation dubbed by social media users as “the Fairmont incident.”
According to a statement issued on Tuesday by the prosecutor’s office, the prosecution received a letter from the National Council of Woman on Tuesday which detailed a complaint sent to the council by a woman alleging she was raped by several people inside Fairmont Nile City Hotel in Cairo in August 2014.
The complaint included testimonies of other people concerning the incident, the statement said.
Two weeks ago, an anonymous Instagram account posted a series of allegations accusing a group of young men, including the sons of prominent businessmen, of being involved in a gang rape at the Fairmont Hotel following a dance party.
The account, which shared the names and photos of the suspects, said that an underage victim was raped after being drugged by the assailants with GHB, and that the incident was filmed by the suspects and shared among their social circle.
The account said that the victim left Egypt following the rape.
The allegation has gained widespread attention on social media networks, especially on Twitter and Facebook, with hashtags in Arabic and English including “#fairmontincident” going viral.
In statements to AFP earlier this week, the Fairmont Nile City Hotel administration said that there is an ongoing internal investigation into the allegation.
This is the second case involving sexual assault that has caused outrage in Egypt over the past two months, after the recent accusations against alleged serial rapist Ahmed Bassam Zaki.
Zaki was arrested in early July after dozens of women took to social media to accuse him of rape, sexual assault, and blackmail.
Zaki is facing charges of attempting to have sex with two females, including a minor, without their consent. He is also accused of using blackmail in attempts to coerce women into granting him sexual favours.
Zaki is currently detained pending investigation.
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