Egypt police arrest man for raping Russian tourist

Egyptian police said Saturday they have arrested a driver for raping a Russian tourist in a resort town, as the government cracks down on an epidemic of sexual harassment and violence.

Police said the mini-bus driver raped the woman after pretending the vehicle had broken down, to trick her husband into getting off before speeding off with his intended victim.

The incident took place in the Red Sea resort town of Sharm al-Sheikh, where the tourism ministry had previously shut down two hotels over alleged rapes.

In Cairo, police said Saturday they have arrested a low-ranking officer who groped a Tunisian woman at Cairo airport.

The government recently passed a law imposing harsher penalties for sexual crimes.

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi pledged to crack down on such crimes, after footage circulated of men sexually assaulting a woman during a rally.

Thirteen men have been put on trial over that attack and others during rallies in Cairo’s Tahrir Square.

Rights groups said 250 cases of sexual violence against women were reported between November 2012 and January 2014, many of them around the iconic square where protesters rallied to unseat two presidents over three years.