An Egyptian Christian woman, Rania Abd al-Meseh, was kidnapped on 23rd of April by two veiled women in Monufia Governorate, International Christian Concern reported. 

A video began circulating three days later of Rania announcing that she had converted to Islam. The video was  met with alarm by several Christians, who observed that her body language during the video appeared that she was under great stress and spoke under duress, ICC noted. 

“My sister was wearing the a crucifix around her neck when she left home. So if she wanted to convert to Islam, she would have left the necklace at home”, her brother told local media.

This evidence suggests her conversion happened under duress.

According to ICC, Christian women are often kidnapped in Egypt by extremists who force them to convert to Islam and marry Muslim men. It is difficult to bring these women home, and should their return be facilitated; it is often difficult for them to resume life as before because of the culture of shame associated with their experiences.

74 Christian churches and places of worship have been legally approved in Egypt

See full article here.

Photo is courtesy of Unsplash.