Human rights activists in Egypt were outraged Monday after video was posted online that appeared to show a brutal sexual assault in Tahrir Square in Cairo on Sunday. …

Footage of the attack, which many viewers described as too distressing to watch in full, prompted an outpouring of anguish on social networks at how routine the harassment and assault of women remains in Egypt, despite the efforts of activists in recent years to start a frank discussion of the severity of the problem. …

There was disgust at what many called an epidemic of sexual violence in Egypt, and anger at the police for failing to make women safe in such a celebrated public space. But there was also vitriol directed at Maha Bahnassy, a female television host for the pro-government Tahrir Channel, who was heard laughing during a correspondent’s field report on incidents of sexual harassment in the square on Sunday.