Every year in Egypt, hundreds of Christian girls disappear.  They are presumed to have been abducted and forced to convert to Islam and marry Muslim men.  Families do not bother to report most instances because anti-Christian animus is rampant among police and other authorities.

The September issue of El Tareek, Egypt’s only Christian newspaper, contains a lengthy article reporting on investigations into many such disappearances.  A translation is posted at The Last Harvest.

The latest case is that of Mona Yacoub Kriakas, a 23-year-old teacher who disappeared days before she was to be married, apparently while shopping in preparation for her wedding.  The family’s lawyer lodged a complaint with the police, naming the man suspected of the crime.  When the police brought the man in, he produced a marriage contract.  The family contested the validity of the contract in court because it appeared forged.  Also, she had previously signed an engagement contract with her fiancé.

The court ordered the accused man to appear to respond to the charge of kidnapping.  He has not done so, the court’s order has not been enforced, and the authorities have refused to arrange a meeting between the family and the daughter.

Dozens more cases are listed in the full article.

h/t: Persecuted Church Weblog, where contact information for the Egyptian Embassy in Ottawa is posted, so you can voice your concern to the Egyptian Ambassador to Canada.