Coptic Christian Medical Student Kidnapped in Egypt

Irene Ibrahim Shehata:
Kidnapped by Muslim Brotherhood

On Jan. 22nd 2024, 21-year-old Coptic Christian medical student Iren Ibrahim Shehata was kidnapped in Asyut, Egypt by the Muslim Brotherhood.  Irene was attending Asyut National University and was preparing for her midterm exams when she disappeared.  In February, her brother received a frantic phone call from Irene in which she told him she was in the city of Sohaj and told her brother to rescue her or consider her dead.  A man then grabbed the phone from the frantic Irene and said "OK, you heard her voice and know she's OK right?  No go to Hell!"  He then disconnected the call and Irene's family hasn't heard from her since.  Though the family reported the call to the police, they have actually done more to hinder the investigation then to aid in Irene's recovery.  The police, instead of pursuing the kidnappers, have instead threatened to arrest Irene's family if they try to mount any kind of rescue attempt and warned them that her kidnappers are armed.  

Though the authorities did eventually charge her abductor with kidnapping, they remain dismissive toward Irene's family and told them that had willing converted to Islam and ran off with a Muslim man on her own free will.  Furthermore, they refused to give her location to Irene's family and instead gave them several false locations, leading Irene's father and brother to vainly travel up and down Egypt in order to try and find her.  Irene's father insisted to the police that this is not true because it would make no sense for Irene to run off with a Muslim man in the middle of her midterms with just her medical supplies and not instead pack bags of clothing and other items that she would need if she had snap-decided to marry and run away, yet the authorities still refuse to act.  

Tragically, Irene's case is not isolated.  Her father revealed that during the month that Irene was kidnapped, several other Coptic Christian girls were also kidnapped in the region.  He revealed that the Muslim Brotherhood is an organized terrorist group that carefully plots the kidnapping and forced conversion & marriage of Coptic Girls throughout Egypt.  Making matters worse, the Brotherhood successfully infiltrated the police forces and have either bribed them into looking the other way, or simply took them over.  Coptic Solidarity issued a recent statement in which they said: "These networks are often supported by like-minded members that include high ranking officials of the police, national security, and local administrations.  Their roles include refusal to lodge official complaints by the victims families, falsifying police investigations, organization former conversion sessions, or harassing the victim's families into silence."  

The kidnapping of Coptic Christian girls by the Muslim Brotherhood has been going on for years with no signs of stopping, and with the Brotherhood either influencing or exercising complete control over the authorities, the victims families have little hope of ever seeing their kidnapped relatives again.  

Sources:

"Egypt Official Abet Kidnappers of Christian College Student; Muslim Brotherhood Behind Abduction."  The Christian Post.  March 15, 2024.  Accessed from https://www.christianpost.com/news/egypt-officials-abet-kidnappers-of-christian-woman-father-says.html.