The Heliopolis Criminal Court reduced Tuesday the sentence ruled against a man charged with sexually harassing a woman in a shopping mall in Cairo, known as “Mall Girl” to the media, down from one month to two weeks.
The court had previously decided in November to imprison him for a month alongside a fine of EGP 200.
The case went viral when a video of the victim being assaulted by the harasser was posted online and was broadcast in controversial TV host Reham Saeed’s TV programme “Sabaya El-Kheir” on the privately-owned channel Al-Nahar.
Saeed’s actions caused public outrage after she blamed the woman for the incident by suggesting her clothes were inappropriate and therefore provoked the man into harassing her. 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 photos were stolen while her phone was charging 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.
