According to the Canadian Coptic Association, on June 30 seventeen-year-old Nermine was kidnapped in front of the Isis Secondary School in Alexandria, Egypt. Shortly afterwards, her father, Samaan Sadek Stephanos, received a phone call, saying that his daughter had been kidnapped and was being forced to change her religion to Islam. Her abductors then planned to have her married to a Muslim man.
The case has been reported to the police. Her father has sent telegrams and faxes to numerous authorities. No one has responded, however. He has not been allowed to advertise the issue in any Egyptian newspaper or on the local television channel. The police are refusing to call this "kidnapping," saying it is an "absence case."
The abduction and forcible conversion and marriage of Christian girls is not uncommon in Egypt. Sadly, the press and authorities generally ignore it when it happens. Please pray for Nermine and her family. Pray that she will be returned to her home unharmed. Pray for the many other Christian girls in similar situations in Egypt. Pray that the Egyptian authorities will take this horrible practice more seriously and prosecute those guilty of these crimes.
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