According to a statement by the Ministry of Interior on Monday, they were informed on Sunday of the incident.

The statement came shortly after an Instagram story by the sister of the victim detailing what happened went viral in English and Arabic on Monday as social media users demanded the ministry arrest the driver.

Sally Awad, a renowned fitness and Yoga coach in New Cairo, detailed in a series of Instagram stories how her younger sister, an English teacher, survived an alleged attempted kidnap and rape by a driver affiliated with Uber.

According to Awad, she requested an Uber car to take her sister from a residential compound in New Cairo to Sheikh Zayed, at 9:56pm on Saturday to attend a wedding.

She added that as soon as her sister got into the car, the driver asked her to cancel the trip and send the money to his wallet so the company or Uber would not take a percentage of the fee, to which she refused, stating as she did not request the trip herself, but it was her sister.

According to the account of the victim's sister, the driver insisted on his request and asked her to call her sister to cancel the trip, and after the call, they agreed to continue the trip to ensure her safety.

At 10:15pm, Awad received a call informing her that her sister was found injured in a New Cairo desert location adding that passersby returned her sister to her house. Her sister told her that the driver threatened her with a knife, assaulted her, and attempted to rape her, but she resisted.

Uber reacts

From its side, Uber Egypt expressed its deep sorrow, adding that such behaviour has no place on its app and that it has taken all necessary actions against the driver in question, including suspending his account.

It also added in a statement released Monday night that they contacted the victim to provide all possible support.

Additionally, Uber was closely collaborating with local authorities to provide all necessary information for the investigation process, it added.

Awad’s Instagram story went viral, creating an uproar as it is the second recent incident of its kind associated with the popular ride-hailing app Uber.

On Tuesday, the #stopusinguber hashtag went viral on the social media network X where users demanded a boycott of the popular app.

Last month, a Cairo criminal court sentenced another Uber driver accused of attempting to kidnap Habiba El-Shamaa – who died after sustaining serious injuries in the incident – to 15 years in prison and fined him EGP 50,000.

Habiba, 24, sustained a brain haemorrhage after she jumped out of the car to escape the driver in the case that rattled the public in late February.

She went into a coma for 21 days before passing away.