During the annual celebrations of St Balamoun Monastery ("Qasr Sayyad, Naga Hamadi), commemorating the great saint, the Coptic congregation noted with surprise the intimidation tactics by Muslims in the village. Coptic women were subjected to leers and harassed as they made their way to the monastery.

The congregation alerted the authorities and the security forces present in the area, but were told that there would be no action taken, as their authority only extends a few meters around the monastery...and whatever happens beyond that is of no concern to them.

(Click on the title to watch the video)

The congregation also noted some members of the security forces in the town vandalising electrical wires which feed into the monastery.

The events escalated when on the last night of celebrations, a car forced its way through the crowds and grabbed a Christian girl called Mariam. This lead to a commotion and some shots were heard in the vicinity.

After some negotiations between the monastery clergy and the authorities, the Coptic youth and congregation were ordered to remain enclosed inside the monastery church to allow the police to bring the kidnapped girl back.

Soon after this agreement was reached, the congregation and clergy found Mariam lying at the gate shaking and looking terrified, and they also found that the monastery was now surrounded by the police.

At the time of writing this report, Mariam was being cared for in the church, and was still visibly shaken by the ordeal. She maintains she wasn't kidnapped or sexually assaulted, rather she was "ill and got lost"!!! and the church priest supports her in her statement.

Many questions beg to be asked...
If Mariam was merely "ill and got lost" why was she discarded at the gate of the monastery by the police, as if evidence to some crime or disaster? Why wasn't she taken to a hospital or a clinic to be cared for?
What happened to Mariam from the time she was taken (approximately 5pm) to the time she was returned (midnight)?????

Translated from an account by Hala Al Masry

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