Mob sex assaults on women overshadow Egyptian inauguration

Uniformed Egyptian police pull a woman in nothing but her underclothes from a frenzied mob. "Get back boy! Get back!" the officers say as one lifts his pistol into the air. Large patches of skin on the victim appear bloodied and raw as she struggles to walk toward a police van with hordes of men still fighting for a handful of her body. Moments later, she falls to the ground, naked. Police carry her into the vehicle, seemingly incapable of thwarting the crowd. In the background, revelers set off fireworks and wave flags to celebrate the inauguration of Egypt's new president, CNN reports. 

This is just one of at least five mob sexual assaults that took place in Cairo's Tahrir Square on Sunday, according to the "I Saw Harassment" campaign, which documents sexual violence against women in Egypt. The attack is shown in a less than two-minute viral cell phone video that CNN cannot independently verify, but which activists say appears to match the details of an attack.

Four of the five victims sexually assaulted in the square required medical attention, the "I Saw Harassment" campaign said. The attacks against them were so ferocious that several officers deployed to rescue the women were themselves wounded by the crowd, according to a statement from the Interior Ministry on Monday.

Police arrested seven men Monday on charges of sexual harassment after two women filed police reports and identified their attackers, an Interior Ministry spokesman said. Video of one of the assaults was posted on YouTube and the video is a part of the ongoing investigation, said another official from the Interior Ministry, who was not authorized to speak to the media.