Case dropped against Egyptian men in Christian-Muslim marriage dispute

EGYPT, 17TH 2017, LIMA CHARLIE NEWS WIRE

The noteworthy case against three Egyptian men who stood accused of forcing a 70 year-old woman to strip naked, and then beat her during a sectarian fueled riot, has been dropped by Egyptian prosecutors. The incident occurred on the 20th of May in the village of Karma, in Minya province, south of Cairo.

The riots began after speculations over the woman’s son having had an affair with a Muslim woman in the village. During the riots, the man’s family home, where the grandmother lived, was burnt down.

After Police responded to the riots, they detained the three men. The son fled with his wife and children, and was charged in absentia for adultery, which is a criminal offense in Egypt.

Egyptian law states explicitly that it is illegal for a Christian man to marry a Muslim woman, but it is not illegal for a Muslim man to marry a Christian woman.

The grandmother states that she is still receiving death threats. The son has denied the charges, but is scheduled to stand trial in January, with the possibility of a lengthy prison sentence.

“If the law stands by the side of the culprits and the victim becomes culprit, then nothing will stop them from attacking us [Coptic Christians in Egypt] in the future,” the son was quoted as saying to regional media.

JOHN SJOHOLM, MIDDLE EAST BUREAU, LIMA CHARLIE NEWS

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