Reem Leila delves beneath the headlines On Friday many local newspapers led with the brutal murder of two university students in a residential compound in Sixth of October City's Sheikh Zayed district. The two women were stabbed to death, one of the victims beheaded and her tongue cut out. Equally chilling was the fate of a nine-year-old boy, kidnapped in Nasr City and taken to Tanta where his dismembered body was found in a cardboard box in the street. Such horrific crimes are becoming almost daily news, leaving many wondering whether Egypt is becoming a crime ridden society. There are those who point out that violent crime is nothing new, invariably citing the celebrated case of Raya and Sekina, two female serial killers whose orgy of murder early last century turned the streets of Alexandria into places of fear. Yet many sociologists argue that crime in Egypt is becoming more aggressive. Fed on a daily diet of horrific news stories, many members of the public would agree. Then there is the oft voiced complaint that even those with whom day to day contact is unavoidable now adopt a more aggressive attitude. The consensus seems to be that such aggression is a result of the state's failure to command the respect and trust of the public. Ten-year-old Mahi Hesham is far from untypical. "I want to leave Egypt. I am afraid many people are violently killed. I need to feel secure," she says, after no doubt hearing adults talk of what they read in the papers. During Eid Al-Fitr gangs of young men stalked and sexually harassed any young woman unfortunate enough to cross their path on Gamaat Al-Dowal Al-Arabia, one of Mohandessin's busiest streets. The victims were thrown to the ground and their clothes torn. Though more than 100 men were thought to be involved only 38 were detained, of whom 36 were subsequently received. The two who appeared in court received prison sentences of 12 months. Then there was the case of Islam Amr, which dominated the media early in November. The 11-year-old schoolboy was kicked in the chest and stomach by a teacher for not doing his homework. The injuries he received were fatal. So what is going on? Growing social, political and economic frustration, says sociologist Samir Hanna, is at the root of the dilemma, increasingly reflected in day-to- day interactions. Once, aggressive behaviour in the street was limited to criminals and police officers. "Now," he says, "I go to work every day and on the way see traffic officers shouting at microbus drivers, drivers placing their hands on horns and not removing them, screaming at one another and at pedestrians who respond by cursing the drivers. People seem ready to leap at each others' throats over seemingly trivial matters. The culture of tolerance that long existed among Egyptians is on the decline and that is a dangerous thing." In the late 1990s, he says, sensing the threat posed by the spread of terror, Egyptians united against it. But now, "it is common to see people fighting, they seem to explode at each other with anger in the middle of perfectly normal conversations." The police have come in for a fair share of criticism. Increasingly they are perceived as devoting all their efforts to protecting the regime at the expense of ordinary members of the public. "The public blames the police for being aggressive, but the public has itself become aggressive," says Salwa Shaarawi Gomaa, professor of political science at Cairo University. Recent research suggests that those who now commit crimes come from a wider range of backgrounds than in the past. "Students and businessmen constitute a significant percentage of convicted criminals. In the past this was not the case. Now quite unexpected people appear before the courts, often on charges that involve violence," says Gomaa who blames the phenomenon on the increasingly inequitable distribution of wealth. "Egypt remains a safe place to live in but only when a different approach is adopted to ensure the benefits of economic growth are spread more equally," she says. Opposition MP Mustafa Bakri argues that the state urgently needs to upgrade public services across the board if it is not to risk further alienating the public. "In a country where the rich grow richer and the poor more desperate you cannot expect order to prevail. In the absence of state provision of housing squatter settlements have grown up across the country. In Cairo those who live in slum areas see others living in large villas and apartments, leading what seem hugely extravagant lives while they can barely feed themselves. How can such a situation not breed crime fed by resentment?" The problem is compounded, says Gomaa, by the apparent belief of those in power that economic growth alone can solve Egypt's woes. "What they fail to realise is that you can no longer rely on the tolerance of the public to guarantee domestic security. If the economic and social conditions of the majority continue to deteriorate more violent crimes will be inevitable and Egypt could eventually become a dangerous place to live."
