A file photo of Egypt's Prosecutor General office in New Cairo (Photo:Al-Ahram)
Egypt’s public prosecution ordered on Saturday the detention of three suspects pending investigation into the Fairmont rape case, where a number of men are accused of raping a woman at the Fairmont Hotel in Cairo in 2014.
The suspects – who have been identified as Ahmed Toulan, Amr Hussein and Khaled Hussein – were arrested by Egyptian police on Saturday after they were returned to the country by Interpol following their arrest in Beirut in August.
The three men, as well as other suspects, had fled to Lebanon after the rape, dubbed the “Fairmont Nile City Hotel rape case,” was brought to light.
Two other suspects in the case fled Lebanon before they could be apprehended, according to Lebanese authorities.
Two of the defendants in the case, which so far involves a total of nine suspects, were arrested earlier, including one suspect who was apprehended as he attempted to flee Egypt.
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 men at the luxurious Fairmont Hotel in Cairo in 2014.
The victim and a number of witnesses have been questioned by the prosecution, the prosecution said on 24 August.
The case went viral in July on different social media platforms after an anonymous Instagram account published posts accusing a group of young men of being involved in a gang rape following a party at the hotel.
Short link: