Ayah Youssef, the victim of the viral dance video involving teachers from Dakahlia in Egypt, confirmed that her husband divorced her following the video's spread, despite her asserting that she did not commit any wrongdoing and merely "celebrated with her colleagues," as she described.
In statements to "Al-Masry Al-Youm" newspaper today, she said: “I didn’t do anything; I was on the trip with teachers and the teachers’ union from Mansoura, along with their families, and my three children were with me because it was a family trip. Everyone present brought their families, and even my husband was supposed to join us, but something came up at the last moment, so I went with the kids. However, after the videos circulated, everything turned upside down; my husband divorced me, and I became accused of something I don't know.”
She added, “I didn’t do anything wrong. All I did was enjoy and play like anyone else on the trip, but people have attacked me as if I committed a crime just because I laughed and played with my colleagues. My job as a teacher ends at the school gate; like everyone else, I have the right to live my life, enjoy, play, and dance. Even lawyers take off their robes outside the courtroom and live their lives normally. Am I supposed to walk around all the time holding a notebook and a pen, saying I’m a teacher, and teachers cannot be happy, laugh, or dance with their siblings and colleagues?”
She continued, “The only mistake I made was going out and enjoying myself on a trip that included dishonorable people who published the video to defame me, my family, and my three children. Everyone was dancing; does that mean I should share their videos? Of course not, because I respect myself and my colleagues.”
She went on to express, “I wish people would forget about this matter so I could return to living my life normally. I am an ordinary person and acted freely, but because of this everyday action, my life turned into a hell, and everything changed after my husband divorced me due to people devoid of conscience. My children and I are suffering from a bad psychological state, even though when we went on the trip, it was a beautiful day, and I returned to tell my husband everything because I’m not used to hiding things from him.”
She added, “I will take legal action, and I won’t let this go because what happened is excessive and not normal. I want to ask those who attacked me if none of their relatives dance on trips with their friends and at weddings. Is it permissible for you and forbidden for me? I pray to God for retribution against everyone who hurt me and damaged my reputation.”
Ali Abdel-Raouf, from the Ministry of Education in Dakahlia, referred five teachers from the Western Mansoura Educational Administration to the administrative prosecution after investigating them for participating in a dance session on a Nile boat during a trip organized by the teachers' union in Western Mansoura.
