A circulating video has shocked the public in Tunisia, documenting a robbery and an attempted stabbing of a woman, today, Wednesday, in a public street and in front of bystanders, executed by two individuals from Sub-Saharan African countries.
The video shows moments of the assault on the victim, where two individuals blocked her path and threatened her with stabbing to snatch her handbag, but she attempted to resist them leading to one of them threatening her with stabbing until she surrendered, in one of the main crowded streets in the Skhira suburb of the capital Tunis, without any intervention from pedestrians or car owners, while a dog tried to defend her.
The scenes provoked reactions from Tunisians on social media, where users expressed their dismay at the brutality of the assault and the absence of any intervention from bystanders to rescue the woman; it also renewed the debate around the phenomenon of irregular migration, particularly following the increase in robbery and assault crimes involving some irregular migrants.
Activist Rafiq Ben Abdullah commented, "A dog intervened to rescue her and people paid her no attention; animals have become more humane and merciful than humans," while activist Zeinab Al-Aqrabi wrote, "This video is painful because a woman is being stabbed in the public street and no one moved,” wondering “Why have we become like this?!”.
Conversely, activist Moaz Al-Andalusi believes that “dissatisfaction and condemnation are not sufficient every time robbery and armed robbery occur,” emphasizing the need for the state to take responsibility in protecting the citizens and enforcing the law on the criminals, whether they are Tunisians or foreigners, and finding clear solutions for the Africans’ issue. Meanwhile, activist Hadi Souissi thinks that the solution is not in hatred and incitement against others but in a state that protects and punishes everyone.
Tunisia has witnessed a noticeable escalation in robbery and assault crimes, especially in working-class neighborhoods, coinciding with an exacerbation of the irregular migration crisis and an increase in the number of migrants from Sub-Saharan African countries, which has raised societal concerns about the lack of a sense of security.
