CAIRO: The Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Rights (ECESR) said in a statement Saturday that the nursing specialists on strike at Mansoura University, in the northeastern Nile Delta region, have been verbally harassed and beaten by the University guards on the fourth day of their open strike. The same guards are accused of causing two pregnant women on the strike at the university to have miscarriages due to the violence. Reports have said that the nursing department at the university was shut down as a result of the open strike and the students were forbidden from attending classes, which led to tens of students joining the strike. 60 nursing specialists have been on strike since December 9, after being transferred from their work in the university to a hospital, an area of work completely different from their own, ECESR said. ECESR mentioned that the university has cut electricity and water from the grounds to corner the strikers and the guards forbid any food or water from being delivered to the women. The center also reported that the women’s mobile phones were confiscated by force to stop them from contacting relatives or the media. The nursing specialists were compulsorily moved from their positions to working as nurses at local hospitals. The head of Mansoura University is behind the decision the organization said, despite the fact that the most of the 60 nursing specialists held their positions for the past 15 years. The specialists have reportedly complained that moving them to work as nurses “has nothing to do with their expertness and will only do harm, but the head of the university ignored their pleas.” The guards are also forbidding any journalists or human rights organizations from approaching the women or entering the school. BM