A Christian girl kidnapped in Egypt tells her story. The Arabic-language Free Christian Voice (Sawt al-Masihi al-Hurr) carried this report, entitled "After her return, the young girl of the village of Fanus narrates the details behind the conspiracy to bully her family out of the village," on June 17.
The young girl of the village of Fanus exposes the details of the conspiracy prepared for her:"As I was returning back to the house, they came upon me and put something on my mouth and stripped off the gold I was wearing. I fell unconscious -- until I found myself on one of the streets of al-Minya [i.e., outside of the village], totally oblivious of what had happened."
"The village elder gave my kidnapper money."
"The village elder said to me: 'We think you are too good for the Christian religion... Become Muslim and I will marry you, and sign over to you all my money and property, and provide you with an excellent life.'"
"The village elder entered our homes and beat us all...and he had people from his extended family of al-Dirabsa who came to the house with a drum in order to carry me in the streets in a wedding procession, saying: 'Look at the Christian who became a Muslim!'"
"I wish the village elder were judged and jailed, for he tormented us and forced us -- he and those who followed him -- out of our village. And the government is standing by his side, abandoning us."
Interview by Girgis Bashari -- exclusive to The Copts United
The kidnapping of the young girl of the village of Fanus, in the province of Samalut in al-Minya has exposed the various ways and conspiracies undertaken by Muslims in order to coerce young girls to enter into Islam -- after humiliating and degrading them. Based on the role played by the newspaper, The Copts United, which covers these matters and conspiracies, we had the following conversation with the young girl of the village of Fanus, whose name is Zinahum Nadi 'Adli Amin, after she returned [from her kidnapping]:
Q: Zinahum, how many Christians are in the village of Fanus? How many Muslims?
A: The village of Fanus has approximately twenty Christian households and six Muslim households. The village elder [sheikh al-'izba] is Muslim.
Q: That which happened to you, do you call it kidnapping, or did you runaway of your own will?
A: What happened to me involved a great conspiracy; nor did I imagine such a thing could ever happen to me.
Q: What was the conspiracy carried out against you? And who planned it?
A: On Saturday night, we had one of our female relatives over. I went out to get something cold [to drink]. I met four Muslim females from the village and stopped to greet them. As I was returning back to the house, they came upon me and put something on my mouth and stripped off the gold I was wearing. I fell unconscious -- until I found myself on one of the streets of al-Minya [i.e., outside of the village], totally oblivious of what had happened. Then, the world darkened before my face, and I did not know what to do. I was afraid to return home, lest my parents kill me, though what happened was against my will.
Q: Who kidnapped you? And who planned this conspiracy against you?
A: The person who kidnapped me is someone called Sayyid Khalif Ahmed 'Abd al-Rahman. The person who planned this conspiracy, I know him well: he is the village elder, Khalif 'Abd al-Majid. He comes from a large family, connected to [the tribe of] al-Dirabsa. He gave Sayyid money to kidnap me and incited many people against me.
Q: What is your evidence that the village elder plotted this conspiracy against you? And what was the purpose behind your kidnapping?
A: The purpose of kidnapping me was to force me to enter into Islam.
Q: How?
A: When I went to the police department in the morning [to report the kidnapping], the Hajj [Muslim honorific], Khalif, the village elder, came to me and said: "We think you are too good for the Christian religion." He said to me: "Become Muslim and I will marry you, and sign over to you all my money and property, and provide you with an excellent life -- just say before witnesses, 'I want to become Muslim.'" But I refused.
Q: Did they arrest the youth who kidnapped you?
A: Yes, they arrested him, but he was released.
Q: Why?
A: Because, when I was at the police department, I was unable to focus, due to my being drugged, and they said to me, "Say at the hearing, 'Nobody kidnapped me,'" and I said so. And because of this, he was released and not imprisoned. They wanted me to enter into Islam in any way.
Q: Were you threatened after you returned to your home?
A: They are currently furious and enraged because I returned to my family, refusing to become a Muslim. They threaten us and have blockaded our way in the village. None of us ventures outside. My father does not go to his work because he fears stepping outside. The village elder entered our homes and beat us all, cursing us; he beat my father with his slipper [i.e., ultimate humiliation]. He had with him ten cars full of people from his extended family of al-Dirabsa, who came to the house with a drum in order to carry me in the streets in a wedding procession, saying: "Look at the Christian who became a Muslim!" They said to my parents, "We're going to take your daughter no matter what, and afterwards you will never find her!" So, in fear, we abandoned our homes, and went to stay with my grandfather in the village of 'Amira near our village. There, the state security came to my parents and said to them: "Your daughter has become Muslim." Until now, we are not permitted to go out, and we are persecuted...and the village elder wants us to abandon our home. And he has sworn "by the right" [i.e., sworn to Allah], that if we do not quit the village, my family will never see me again. He said: "I will not rest, nor will I know peace, until I see her uncles shorn of their mustaches [i.e., demeaned and emasculated]. Thus they forced us to leave the village. But we will never forget it, and we will try to return to it in any possible way.
Q: Why did you not report the village elder regarding the fear and terror he caused you?
A: I wish that man were judged and jailed, for he tormented us, and forced us -- he and those who followed him -- out of our village. He is trying to break my spirit and my family's spirit any which way he can. And the government is standing by his side, abandoning us.
Q: What do you request now?
A: I thank the Lord for delivering me from this conspiracy. I ask that human rights [representatives] come and hear our complaint, and know what is happening to us and my family, and to investigate the situation, and that they subject the village elder to a trial, because of what he did to us.
Q: Did your gold return to you?
A: Yes, it returned today.
Q: Do you have a message that you would like to send to young Coptic girls like yourself?
A: I say to the girls who are like me: I am in great fear over you because of what's happening. What I have seen -- no one has seen. I used to be very open and trusting towards Muslim women, but they were plotting a catastrophe for me behind my back. They drugged me, and I never would have expected that from them.
This translation taken from Robert Spencer's site, and the translation performed by Raymond Ibrahim. .
