The Egyptian Public Prosecution said on Sunday that it has ordered the detention of a suspect pending an investigation into a gang rape that allegedly took place at the Fairmont Nile City Hotel in Cairo in 2014.
The defendant, Omar Hafez, was arrested on 28 August and informed about the allegations against him, the prosecution said in a statement.
The incident, which allegedly took place in August 2014, gained attention on social media last July after an anonymous Instagram account accused a group of young men of being involved in a gang rape following a dance party at the luxurious hotel.
Seven defendants in the case left the country via Cairo International Airport in July, days after the alleged crime went viral on social media, according to a previous statement by the prosecution.
Lebanese authorities say they have arrested three Egyptians who are wanted in Egypt in connection with the case, and that two of the other suspects have fled Lebanon.
Another defendant in the case, Amir Zayed, was arrested earlier as he attempted to flee Egypt and is being detained pending investigation.
The case so far involves a total of nine suspects. The whereabouts of the remaining suspects are currently unknown.
The suspects in the case, which has gained widespread attention on social media over the past two months, reportedly hail from affluent and powerful families in Egypt.
The alleged rape has been under investigation by Egyptian authorities since 4 August, when a complaint about the incident was filed with the country's prosecutor-general.
The complaint was first sent to the National Council of Women (NCW) by a woman alleging she was raped by several people at the luxurious Fairmont Hotel in Cairo six years ago.
The victim and a number of witnesses have been questioned by the prosecution, the prosecution said on 24 August.
Lately, Egypt has been cracking down on sex crimes, arresting suspects who include men accused on social media of being sexual predators, one of the most recent being alleged serial rapist Ahmed Bassam Zaki.
In July, Egypt’s cabinet approved a bill proposed by the justice ministry to keep the identity of sex crime victims confidential. According to the law, the identities of the victims of sexual crimes are not to be publicly disclosed, and can only be revealed to the court and to defendants upon request.
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