A 28 year-old Dutch tourist has accused a hotel worker of attempted rape in the Red Sea resort town Marsa Alam.
Ministry of Interior Spokesman Mohamed Iman confirmed Saturday media reports that a suspect referred to as 29 year-old “Sharif K.” from Haram Street in Giza has been sent to the prosecution and has been ordered detained for four days pending investigation on accusations of sexual assault.
The suspect has denied the accusations.
The accusation in Marsa Alam is the fourth case of sexual assault against a tourist since the beginning of March.
In the past month, three separate cases of sexual assault were reported by female foreigners in tourist destinations.
Interpol and the International Cooperation Bureau of the Prosecutor General’s office are jointly investigating the case of a 47 year-old British woman who claims she was assaulted by a hotel worker in Sharm El-Sheikh on 6 March.
On 15 March an officer of the South Sinai Tourism Police saw a Russian female leave a nightclub and followed her to her room, according to a statement by the prosecutor. The Russian had gone to sleep but left the door to her balcony open, which the accused used as an entrance point. The man entered the room and “tried to sexually assault her”, the woman then screamed and kicked him out of the room.
According to state-run Al-Ahram, an incident of “sexual harassment” occurred on 1 April between a police officer and a 33 year-old tourist from the Philippines at Abu Simbel Temple in Aswan. The officer was ordered detained four days by the prosecution pending an investigation.
The Ministry of Tourism announced on 15 March that it had revoked the licences of two hotels, Hilton Sharks Bay 2 and Sharm Holiday in Sharm El-Sheikh and that it was looking into ways for combating the “phenomenon of sexual harassment”.
Marsa Alam is a town on the west coast of the Red Sea located approximately 300km south of Hurghada. The town is home to several beach resorts and an international airport.
The Ministry of Tourism did not return requests for comment.
