The Heliopolis Criminal Court sentenced a man, charged with sexually harassing a woman in a shopping mall in Cairo, to one month in prison with a fine of EGP 200.
The harasser’s lawyer is expected to appeal the verdict.
The case went viral after a video of the victim being assaulted by the harasser was posted online and used as material in controversial TV host Reham Saeed’s TV programme “Sabaya El-Kheir” on the privately-owned Al-Nahar channel.
Saeed’s actions caused public outrage after she blamed the woman for the incident by suggesting her inappropriate clothes provoked it. She later aired the victim’s private photographs without her permission.
When the footage of the woman circulated on social media, she was invited for a TV appearance with Saeed, who questioned the validity of the woman’s account and proceeded to air private photographs of her. The woman later alleged that the pictures were stolen while she was charging her phone at the studio.
According to investigations, the defendant confessed to assaulting the victim after she verbally insulted him. However, he denied sexually harassing the woman.
