A violent video circulating social media of a man beating beaten in the streets of Qena has highlighted the occasional lawlessness in poor rural areas of Egypt.
YouTube user Bahy Hassan posted a video on Tuesday of a man stripped naked, dragged through the streets of Qena while being kicked and beaten with sticks by several local men wearing traditional Egyptian galabeyas. Several of the men in the video are complicit in the beating as they cheer and record the incident on their cell phones.
A witness said that the incident occurred a week ago as part of a quarrel between two families in the village of Al-Hugairat, and that the man now is now undergoing treatment in Qena General Hospital, Al-Masry Al-Youm reports.
Authorities say they were not aware of the incident nor did they mention any official investigations currently underway, demonstrating that in poor rural areas in Egypt, such as Qena, tribal and familial rule often run deeper than the government.
Security Director Adel Abdel Moneim said he was never notified of the incident. “I would have moved immediately,” he said, requesting the person who recorded the video to take him to the location for him to arrest the culprits of the crime.
