Preview of “Christian stores torched after Muslim girl allegedly sexually assaulted in Egypt

Source:
Toronto Star”.pdf
Date of source:
2 Feb 2013
Reference:
LUXOR, EGYPT—Police fired tear gas to disperse hundreds
of Muslim protesters outside a church in southern Egypt
Friday. The demonstrators were demanding an investigation
into allegations that a Christian man sexually assaulted a
6-year-old girl.
Residents in the province of Qena said four shops owned by
Coptic Christians were torched overnight after villagers
accused one of the store owners of molesting the young girl.
The clashes took place in the village of Marashda in Qena
province.
Residents said protesters threw stones at the local church after midday Friday Islamic
prayers. Police fired tear gas to scatter the crowd, which is in one of Egypt’s poorest
areas.
Qena security director Gen. Salah Mazid was quoted in state media saying that police
are investigating the accusations against the merchant.
Flare-ups of violence between Egypt’s Christians and Muslims have become more
frequent in the past two years in the wake of the country’s uprising that ousted longtime
President Hosni Mubarak but also weakened security across the nation.
Egyptian Christians fear that the power vacuum that has followed Mubarak’s overthrow
is giving ultraconservatives and extremist Muslims a freer hand to attack churches and
Coptic property, especially in poor areas of the nation.
Egypt’s Coptic Christians, who make up about 10 per cent of the country’s 85 million
people, have long complained of discrimination by the state. They are the largest
Christian community in the Middle East.
Clashes between Copts and Muslims are usually sparked by church construction, land
disputes or Muslim-Christian love affairs.