Egypt’s Public Prosecution Office in the Sohag Governorate ordered on Sunday the detention of three young men for four days, pending an investigation into an incident in which the men allegedly bullied and assaulted an elderly disabled man.
A TikTok video of the incident went viral on social media over the weekend. The video shows the teens tormenting the man, who appears to be mentally disabled. One of the young men pushes the older man into a canal while the others laugh.
Upon discovering the video, security personnel in Sohag began to investigate the incident. They were able to find out that it had taken place four months ago in al-Okhider village in the governorate’s city of Maragha.
The victim was identified as Ashour, a 60-year-old mentally handicapped man. According to a security source, the perpetrators are three young men, aged between 15 and 18 years old.
Following their arrest, the suspects confessed to the crime and police referred them to the Public Prosecution Office, which ordered their detention while authorities further explore the case.
Egypt has recently approved a new article states that bullying is any show of strength or control by the offender, as well as the exploitation of the weakness of the victim, or of a situation that the bully believes would offend the victim, such as gender, race, religion, physical descriptions, and health, mental, or social status, with the aim of intimidating, ridiculing or degrading them or of excluding them from a social environment.
The new law sets the punishment of a bully at imprisonment for a period of no less than six months, and a fine that is no less than LE10,000 and no more than LE30,000, or one of these two penalties.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
