President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi has showed his solace and respect to a Coptic elderly woman, who was stripped naked by a group of Muslims in Upper Egypt’s Minya last week.
“I hope that the Egyptian lady, and all ladies, to not be upset. Be sure that all of us hold you in high esteem and regard. There is no discrimination among Egyptians and the law is applicable to all (people responsible for the incident) regardless how many,” Sisi said in his speech during inauguration al-Asmarat Project for building new housing units for slum inhabitants Monday at Cairo’s Moqattam.
The president added that the incident of Minya represents “deep shame” in Egypt.
On May 20, a group of 300 armed Muslims arrived at Coptic Ashraf Abdo Atiya’s house and set fire to eight houses and dragged Atia’s mother outside, beat her and stripped her naked in the street when they did not find Atiya in his home, said Coptic Bishop Marcus in a statement May 26.
The attack happened after a divorced Muslim man incited violence against Atiya and his family, claiming that Atiya is in a relationship with his Muslim ex-wife in the al-Karam village of Minya. Since then, 16 out of 23 suspects have been arrested.
