A Coptic minor girl, who disappeared on Wednesday evening with a Muslim man, was returned next morning by the police, after hundreds of Copts crowded in front of the police department, demanding her return. The 16-year-old Abeer Ibrahim was handed over on 26th February, to the Mallawi Diocese, Upper Egypt.
According to Coptic-News, Abeer’s brother said that his sister went with the Muslim man, after she was drugged, and pressurized. He said that his sister was returned, after ‘very important personalities’ were drawn in.
The brother added that he does not know the whereabouts of the culprit, whom he describes as a ‘rogue’. Due to the gravity of the crime, he believes that he should face criminal charges for having lured away a minor, who does not have the legality to act.
It is worth noting that this is one of the rare incidents in which the police took an active part in successfully returning a missing Coptic girl.
Hundreds of Coptic girls are abducted each year and forced into Islam after being raped, and married to Muslims, with the police colluding with the kidnappers to hinder the return of the girls. Besides, the Egyptian government has never brought to justice or even charged any of the men suspected of kidnapping the Coptic girls.