BEIRUT: The deadly stabbing of a man in broad daylight in one of Beirut’s busiest streets and in front of dozens of bystanders has shaken Lebanese society and raised questions about the perceived culture of impunity in the country.

Scores of people have taken to the streets to protest against the killing of George Al-Reef two days earlier by an enraged man following a feud over a car collision. About 200 people marched in Beirut’s Gemmayzeh Street, a commercial area packed with restaurants, where Wednesday’s incident — filmed by a number of bystanders — took place.

Footage published on social media showed the perpetrator, Tarek Yatim, stabbing Reef up to 15 times while his wife screamed helplessly near them.

Yatim was detained by military intelligence on Thursday, reported Al-Jazeera channel quoting army.

Following the incident, reports emerged that a number of arrest warrants had been issued in the past against Yatim for previous assaults.

Local journalist Dalal Mawad said that the perpetrator was connected to an influential businessman who had in the past managed to get him out of prison several times. Local media reported that Yatim was associated with a nightclub shooting in Beirut in 2010 and an attack against a schoolteacher.

Lebanese social media launched two simultaneous campaigns following the killing; one called #JusticeForGeorges and the other calling for the execution of the perpetrator and the businessman backing him.

Georges and his wife were driving on the airport road when they got into a right of passage dispute with Tarek Yatim. Tarek and the woman driving him... tried to cut off Georges who didn’t let them through. So they forcefully hit his car and kept going.

So Georges followed the man who hit his car to write down his license plate number. They called the ISF, gave them a description of the car and its license plate number. They were rebuffed by the ISF because no personnel were nearby.

They were eventually led to Gemmayzeh, where Tarek Yatim got out of his car, ran toward Georges and started stabbing him with the knife he had in his possession.