CASE STUDY ERIN SHEHATA ANOTHER EGYPTIAN GIRL KIDNAPPED
Young Christian woman Erin (or Irene) Shehata was kidnapped at the beginning of 2024. Her family later received a distressing call from her, saying she was being held against her will. The case of the 21-year-old student’s disappearance began while she was in the middle of her examinations for the medical course she was studying at Assyut National University. Erin’s brother said: “Early in the morning" on January 22 nd , Erin left the house to take Amon [her younger brother] to school in a neighboring village… After that, she headed to college to take an exam.” That was the last time Erin’s family ever saw her. The following day, they reported her as missing to the police. The family subsequently found that on the day she was abducted, the religion field on her ID card was changed from Christian to Muslim. The following month, on February 15 th , her brother received a disturbing phone call from an unknown number. He said: “It was Erin. She was screaming and crying. She told us that she had been taken. She even told us the name of her kidnapper. She told us the general area she was in. She begged us to come find her before the call ended abruptly.” It appears Erin managed to get hold of her captor’s mobile, but was discovered during the call. The family contacted police in Sohag, where Erin said she was being held. They investigated and charged a man. However, they then advised the family to drop the matter, saying Erin had eloped with a Muslim man of her own free will. The family disputes this claim, asking why she would have left in the middle of her exams, taking nothing with her. Her father said: “State Security knows exactly where my daughter is,” but added that they refuse to let the family contact the young woman. As her family looked into her disappearance, they learned that Erin had befriended a young woman in her course whose father is reputed to be an Islamist extremist. Her brother said: “We suspect that this friendship led to her disappearance.” The family has stated that they have evidence that Erin was kidnapped by a Muslim Brotherhood
network – and that State Security has been complicit. This echoes the 2017 testimony of a former member of a kidnapping network who, said operatives “weave a spider’s web” around their potential victims to facilitate their kidnappings. They then pass them to Islamists who force them to convert. The former kidnapper also revealed that those involved are paid handsomely by these networks,
with police officers conspiring so that these young women are reported as missing rather than abducted.
Erin’s family has not seen her since she was seized.
Sources: Tim Dustin, “Persecuted Egyptian Christian kidnapped,” 7 th March 2024 https:// globalchristianrelief.org/christian-persecution/ stories/persecuted-egyptian-christian- kidnapped/ [accessed 12/03/24] . Raymond Ibrahim, “Islamists and State Collude in Abducting and Islamizing Coptic Christian Girls in Egypt,” 6 th March 2024 https://www.raymondibrahim. com/2024/03/06/islamists-and-state- collude-in-abducting-and-islamizing-coptic- christian-girls-in-egypt/ [accessed 12/03/24] . “Coptic Christian kidnapped; police aiding captors, family says,” Morning Star News, 28 th March 2024 https://thealabamabaptist.org/ coptic-christian-kidnapped-police-aiding- captors-family-says/ [accessed 05/06/24] . “Egypt: ex-kidnapper admits ‘they get paid for every Coptic Christian girl they bring in,’” World Watch Monitor , 14 th September 2017 <https://www.worldwatchmonitor. org/2017/09/egypt-ex-kidnapper- admits-get-paid-every-copt-christian- girl-bring/> [accessed 05/06/24] .
16 Persecuted and Forgotten?
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