The prosecutor-general Hisham Barakat ordered on Thursday an investigation into allegations that a police officer raped an Al-Azhar university student at an Islamist protest last year.

According to news reports, the student will give her statement to the prosecution on Saturday morning.

The alleged victim accused a police officer of raping her in a police vehicle during her detention following the dispersal of a student protest at Al-Azhar University in Cairo in December last year.

Over 100 protesters were arrested and at least one killed in the clashes on 28 December.  

Human rights activists demanded an investigation into the woman’s claims.

The interior minister’s aide for human rights, Abu-Bakr Abdel-Karim, denied the allegations in TV statements on Thursday, describing them as "lies" and "illogical" and said that the aim of spreading such claims was to defame security forces.

Al-Azhar university was the sight of fierce clashes between pro-ousted president Mohamed Morsi and police during the school year that ended in May. Police dispersed numerous anti-government protests during the academic year arresting tens of students including many women. Several students were killed during those clashes. In recent months, courts have handed jail sentences for scores of students for rioting and destruction of university property.