Cairo Orphanage Under Investigation for Allegedly Punishing a Child Using Cold Water

After several Egyptian orphanages were shut down in recent months following reports of child abuse, a Cairo administrative prosecutor ordered on Saturday an investigation into what might be another case of child abuse at the Fifth Settlement branch of Dar Al-Orman orphanage, according to Al Ahram.

A video went viral online on Friday, where the screams of a child could be heard from inside the orphanage saying,"I won't do it again," as a result of being forced, by an adult woman, to shower with cold water early in the morning. According to the woman who shot the video and posted it on her Facebook profile, she had previously gone and spoken to the administration several times about similar incidents. 

Egypt's Minister of Social Solidarity Ghada Wali had referred the orphanage employee implicated to the prosecution earlier on Saturday, after the ministry conducted an on-site investigation of the facility.

Wali said the orphanage has been shut down, with the children transferred to other facilities, citing renovation and maintenance work at the facility as the reason for its current closure, reported Ahram Online.

The ministry said that the Board of Directors of Dar Al-Orman, which is considered one of the largest charity groups in the country, is cooperating with the investigation.