A mob of about 30 men has turned "crazy" and groped and robbed a French television journalist near Tahrir Square in Cairo, in the latest case of violence against women at the epicentre of Egypt's protests.
France 24 news station said in a statement that Sonia Dridi was attacked about 10:30pm on Friday after a live broadcast on a protest at the square and was later rescued by a colleague and other witnesses.
Sexual harassment is a 20-year problem here, but now there's a feeling of impunity and the knowledge that the police won't do anything about it, it breeds this culture of lawlessness
The station said its employees were safe and sound, though "extremely shocked".
"More frightened than hurt," wrote Dridi in French on her Twitter page on Saturday.
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Referring in English to a colleague, she tweeted: "Thanks to @ashrafkhalil for protecting me in #Tahrir last nite. Mob was pretty intense. thanks to him I escaped from the unleashed hands."
Later she wrote: "Thks everyone for support, shocking but I'm OK. Could have been [worse]. Crowd out of control, guys took advantage of it but kept my clothes on.
"We lost our bags in the 'fight'. Very luckily, mine was found by a brave Egyptian guy a few hours later. He took it from the hands of thugs."
Ashraf Khalil, a colleague who works with France 24's English language service, said the crowd was closing in on him and Dridi while they were doing live reports on a side street off Tahrir.
"The crowd surged in and then it went crazy. It was basically me keeping her in a bear hug, both arms around her and face-to-face," he told The Associated Press, estimating that at least 30 men were involved.
"It was hard to tell who was helping and who was groping her."
Khalil said they retreated into a fast food restaurant called Hardee's, which had a metal door, to keep her out of the reach of the attackers.
He told The Guardian: "What was depressing is that the employees inside Hardee's knew exactly what to do because this seems to happen all the time.
"Some terrified woman running in one step ahead of a mob."
Khalil said the doors were locked and when he later went out to hail a taxi and usher Dridi out, there were men banging on the bonnet of the car.
"Sexual harassment is a 20-year problem here, but now there's a feeling of impunity and the knowledge that the police won't do anything about it, it breeds this culture of lawlessness.
"There are always good Samaritans in the crowd but crowds can be stupid and when it tips, it tips.
Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/world/shocked-sonias-tahrir-square-ordeal-mob-gropes-tv-reporter-after-live-broadcast-20121022-2801t.html#ixzz29ybN3w7W
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