A young Coptic pharmacist was repeatedly stabbed to his death in the neck and chest when unknown men broke into his pharmacy as he stood inside. Mina, 29, was the son of Father Luqa, pastor of the church of Mar-Marqos (St Mark) in the Cairo eastern district of Nuzha.
Yesterday, 28 September, a funeral service was held for the young man. Anba Maximos, Bishop of al-Salam and Hirafiyeen, presided over the service which was attended by 52 members of the clergy.
Fr Ilarion of the church of the Holy Virgin in Nuzha, a colleague told Watani that the death of Mina was shocking to all. “It is too early to talk about the reasons behind the murder,” Fr Ilarion said. “Even though a sum of money went missing from the pharmacy, as did the cell phone of the deceased, it is not yet clear that theft was the real reason behind the stabbing of Dr Luqa.”
The Pharmacists’ Syndicate declared a state of mourning for the death of Dr Luqa, announcing that the date of his death would mark the Cairo Pharmacists’ Day. The young man, the Syndicate said, was a ‘martyr of duty’; he had refused to sell his killer drugs of toxic listing. Such drugs usually include narcotic components and can only be sold by prescription.
Watani International
29 November 2016