VIDEO: Egyptian policewoman slaps alleged sexual harasser

A video showing an Egyptian female police officer violently arresting an alleged sexual harasser has gone viral.

The clip shows a huge crowd that gathered outside the Metro Cinema in central Cairo on Sunday, the third and final day of celebrations to mark the end of Ramadan.

A member of the police team set up to help combat sexual harassment, later named as Neshawi Mahmood, drags the man through a huge crowd into the cinema, leading him by the shirt. The exact details of the man's alleged crime were not evident in the video.

Once inside, the officer is seen shocking the man with an electric rod and slapping him in the face.

Many on social media have praised Mahmood and her team, which conducted patrols during Eid celebrations in central Cairo this year.

Others, however, questioned the police woman’s actions in using electric shocks against a calm and co-operative arrestee.

Public holidays in Egypt often see an uptick in cases of sexual harassment.

The head of the police team dedicated to combating violence against women said 86 people had been arrested for sexual harassment in the first two days of Eid.

Authorities in Egypt have promised to stamp out harassment in a country where more than 90 percent of women report having been sexually harassed at some point.

However, human rights groups say that, far from declining, sexual harassment is on the rise, with sexualised violence perpetrated by the security services frequently used as a tool of state repression.