Licences of 2 Hotels in Sharm ElSheikh Taken away amid Rape Probes
Hisham Zazou, Egyptian Tourism Minister has issued two decrees to take away the licences of two hotels in Sharm El Sheikh including Sharm Holiday Resort and Hilton Sharks Bay Resort as it was proved that two English tourists have been sexually harassed and no measures have been taken from board of directors of the hotels concerning this affair.
The Minister announced on Monday it was investigating the alleged rape of a British holidaymaker in the Sinai resort town of Sharm El-Sheikh.
The ministry is following the case with the British embassy and local tourism police, and the case is currently under investigation, he noted.
The Ministry addressed the Public Prosecutor, stressing that the sexual harassment has a negative reputation on the country.
It also called the Interior Ministry “to guide the formulation of the officers records relating to such phenomenon according to the legal name of this act.
A severe punishment will be imposed if the ministry confirms the crime’s circumstances.
The victim, a businesswoman in her 40s, says she was raped by a security guard at a five-star hotel in the Red Sea resort town, the Daily Mail reported on Sunday.
The guard was escorting the woman back to the hotel when he allegedly pulled her into her bedroom and subjected her to the brutal assault, according to the Daily Mail.
The woman has since left Egypt.
The UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office says reports of sexual assault against British nationals in Egypt have increased since the January 2011 uprising. In 2012, the office handled 23 cases of sexual assault and six cases of rape.
In May 2013, Egypt’s tourism minister Hisham Zaazou told Ahram Online that hotels would be closed if staff were found to have sexually harassed tourists, arguing that the behaviour would have a negative impact on the country’s reputation.
The tourism ministry has recorded 150 cases of sexual harassment against tourists over the last two years. There have also been three recorded rapes.
