ASYUT, Egypt — The family of a kidnapped Coptic Christian medical student says authorities are helping the perpetrators to keep her captive.
Irene Ibrahim Shehata, 21, was abducted Jan. 22 during midterm exams at Asyut National University in Asyut and apparently was forced to convert to Islam, a source told Christian Daily International.
Secretly using her captor’s phone, she called a family member in February, begged to be rescued and told her location, relatives say.
The family alerted police in the city of Sohaj, where she was being held. Police did charge an unidentified male but claimed Irene had willingly gone with the person, a source said.
“The family … has confirmed that a Muslim Brotherhood network — with a complicit State Security — is behind the abduction of Irene and many other Coptic girls,” said Raymond Ibrahim, an expert on the Middle East and Islam at Gatestone Institute.
According to the group Christian Solidarity International, authorities abet the Muslim Brotherhood by refusing to file complaints, falsifying reports and harassing families, among other tactics, reports Christian Daily International.
Egypt is No. 38 on Open Doors’ 2024 World Watch List of places most difficult to be a Christian.
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