The cakes caught the attention of authorities after a Facebook post featuring a group of women eating them at a birthday party at an exclusive community club in Cairo went viral, state newspaper Al-Ahram said Monday.
The baker was arrested and later released after paying EGP 5,000 ($ 318) bail, the semi-official Akhbar el-Yom newspaper said.
The photos of the women eating cupcakes with penis and vagina-shaped ice-cold toppings at the Gezira Club circulated widely on Facebook this week, sparking discussion among Egyptian social media users.
“After investigation, it was possible to identify the manufacturer of the candies … the security forces were able to detain her at her home in Cairo, where she used her home to manufacture the candies,” said Al-Ahram.
The Ministry of Youth and Sports is conducting research.
“We will not be indulgent [with our decisions]Mohamed Fawzy, spokesman for the ministry, told a news program on Egyptian television.
Egypt’s main Islamic religious authority, Dar al-Ifta, also issued a statement saying that sexual innuendo on cakes is religiously prohibited and legally criminalized, calling the incident a “blatant violation of social values.”
The incident caused a stir among Egyptian social media users and was the highlight of the country’s major talk shows.
Some on social media have criticized the women involved and called for more action by the authorities, claiming the incident was an attack “on family values.”
But others offered support and criticized Egypt’s slow response to arrest sexual harassment, rapists and abusers in comparison to the measures taken against the women.
Since taking power in 2014, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has passed a number of laws that tighten government control over the Internet.
A piece of legislation bolstered the government’s ability to target social media as part of its ongoing efforts to address dissent, including categorizing social media accounts with more than 5,000 followers as public websites and therefore worthy of be checked.
Last week, an Egyptian appeals court overturned jail sentences for two well-known TikTok influencers in a high-profile public sex offense case.
Haneen Hossam and Mawada Eladhm were charged with “violating family values and principles and setting up and running online accounts to commit this crime.”
They were initially sentenced to two years in prison in July 2020 and fined 300,000 EGP (approximately $ 19,000 USD) each.