Egypt: Mob attacks Coptic woman

You’re offline. This is a read only version of the page.

Egypt | 15 June 2016

Deutsche Welle (DW) reported on 26 May 2016 that Muslim villagers looted several houses belonging to Coptic Christians and stripped a Christian woman naked over rumors that her son had had an affair with a Muslim woman. Speaking to Reuters the woman recalled: "They burned the house and went in and dragged me out, threw me in front of the house and ripped my clothes. I was just as my mother gave birth to me, and I was screaming and crying." The mob paraded the victim on the street naked and kept chanting "Allahu Akbar". The police were informed but did not react until after the attack when they arrested five men. Prosecutors have ordered the arrest of 18 more. Yonas Dembele, persecution analyst at World Watch Research, comments: "The mob attack against the Coptic Christian Egyptian woman is a clear indication of the extent to which Egyptian Christians are vulnerable to persecution. Such attacks are not new in Egypt and fueled by the impunity that is the norm in the aftermath of such violence towards Christians. The lack of willingness on the part of the police to protect Christians from these kinds of attack is disheartening - especially when the intention to attack was clear from previous threats received by the victims. How the Egyptian justice system will deal with the perpetrators of this attack will be an important test that will indicate how deep the culture of impunity is entrenched in Egypt."