Reports of missing Coptic girls met with apathy

According to a report from the Egypt’s National Council for Human Rights, during a 9-month period from March to December 2006, 32 young Coptic women were reported missing. It is of note that many more cases probably went unreported, according to the Egyptian weekly Watani.

According to the article, underage Coptic women sometimes go missing after leaving the house for a simple errand and when the family attempts to report the incident to the police, the authorities are often uncooperative.

“The officers jeer at the parents, taunting and insulting them with direct allegations that the daughter had possibly eloped – a dead shame in Egypt – and probably converted to Islam. Very frequently the police procrastinate, letting the parents wait in humiliation as the officers or staff attend to some other matter or simply have tea,” the article says.

Then when the daughter is reported missing, the police often cut short their search by simply claiming that they cannot find the girl.

According to the article: “All the parents, the Coptic community, and rights activists ask for is that the girls be found and returned home. Once they are of age they can – and are entitled to – take such major decisions as converting to a different religion or marrying whoever they choose.”

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