New York, May 28, 2016: An elderly Christian woman was beaten by armed Muslim men who tore her clothes chanting Allahu Akbar and later paraded her naked on the streets of rural Egypt.
The armed mob was at least 300 strong and it also burned down 7 homes of Orthodox Coptic families. The mob was outraged over an alleged affair between a Christian man and a Muslim woman and to take revenge for this ‘act’ they acted like this.
As per security officials and the local Orthodox Coptic Church, this incident occurred in the Minya province village of Karma and the unrest happened last week at about 8 pm on 20th May, 2016. Christianity is just 10 percent of the population but still it faces serious persecution due to distrust and misunderstandings.
Such incidents are common in large parts of the world where persecuted Christian minorities have had no such say so far.
There are many people who also suggest that had the Muslim man be involved in the affair with a Christian woman, then such a reaction would have never taken place.
However, so far, no concrete actions have been taken or at least have come to light regarding this case.
The minorities rarely get the much needed cushion in the country that has thriving Muslim Brotherhood activists.
This case is quite like the one reported from Pakistan in 2013, where a Muslim landlord beat, abuse and then strip three Christian women and paraded them through the streets of Pattoki area of Kasur district, only 50 kilometres from Lahore.
In this case too, the report came to life only after the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) raised the issue while all others kept quite. In this case, the Christian family’s head Sadiq Masih had said that the the male members of his family were out, when the Muslim landlord Muhammad Munir, considered close to right-wing ruling PML (N), entered his house with his men, and alleged that his sons had dared to enter into an argument with him over cattle.
Unable to get the men, he turned on to the women of the house and paraded them naked.
Hearing the pleas of the women, the other men from the Christian families put their turban (a mark of a community’s honour, respect and dignity) on to the feet of the attackers and pleaded them to let the women go. The attackers left, only after threatening them of dire consequences if they dared to file a complaint.
But it seems, in the case of the elderly Christian woman of Egypt, there was nothing that could satisfy the angry men from stripping the dignity of a woman.
Pic credit: Frontpage magazine
