CASE STUDY ABDUCTED, CONVERTED AND KEPT FROM HER FAMILY
When Samah Ageeb disappeared in December 2025, the Christian community in Girga District was outraged — saying she was the fifth Christian woman to disappear there that year. Samah — a 27-year-old married woman with a seven-year-old son — was abducted after getting into a tuk-tuk taxi in Bandar Al- Gharbiya village on Tuesday, December 9, 2025. After filing a missing persons report, her family received an unexpected phone call saying Samah had converted to Islam and was currently at the Suez Security Directorate, around 380 miles away from Girga. The Suez Security Directorate is the police force’s regional command center, which oversees law enforcement, security and public safety in the Suez Governorate. A group of family and neighbors made the grueling 10- hour journey to Suez. The family was under the impression that Samah would be allowed to leave with them, and when they arrived, her brother, along with her elderly father and mother, were allowed to go in to see Samah. According to reports from the family, Samah seemed heavily medicated and her speech was often incoherent. She had been dressed in a Muslim niqab, and when they lifted the veil her face was bruised — leading them to think she had been beaten. At the end of the meeting, Samah clung to her mother and begged to return home, but authorities removed her by force. Officers then asked her brother to sign a “non-interference” pledge, promising that he would not seek to return Samah to her family. He refused, insisting that his sister was being coerced. Following a heated exchange with officers, he was detained for several hours. Neighbors allege that he was tortured during his detention.
Her father was also asked to undergo a DNA test to prove his paternity, which he did. Security finally filed a report on Samah’s behalf against her family, seemingly ending their hopes that she would be released. With Samah still being held, a series of protests started in Girga. Located on the Nile’s west bank in Sohag Governorate, Girga District has a sizeable Christian population. According to local tradition, Girga takes its name from a long-gone monastery dedicated to St. George — or as he is known in Egypt, Mar Girgis. Protesters emphasized that Samah was the fifth Christian woman to disappear from Girga in 2025. Samah’s parents appealed to President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi for their daughter’s return, and supporters launched a global campaign publicizing her case. They were successful, and by the end of December, Samah had been reunited with her family. But her story raises a multitude of questions about the vulnerable situation of Christian women and the role played by authorities in their abductions. Sources “Fifth Case in Gerga: The Disappearance of Samah Ageeb Raises Alarming Questions,” Coptic Solidarity , December 17, 2025 https://www.copticsolidarity.org/2025/12/17/fifth-case-in-gerga- the-disappearance-of-samah-ageeb-raises-alarming-questions/ [accessed 06/15/26] . “National Security detains the family of Samah Nashed Ajeeb,” اﻟﺤﺮ اﻟﺤوار (YouTube Channel), December 14, 2025 https://www. youtube.com/watch?v=i64IPjJH21Q [accessed 06/16/26 ].
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