WATANI International
4 October 2009
One Copt was killed and three injured last Sunday in the village of Dalga in Deir Mawwas, Minya, Upper Egypt.
Ashraf Maher Amin Rizq, 25, was heading to the neighbouring town of Mallawi to meet his prospective bride’s family, accompanied by his father Maher, 50; and uncles Maurice Rizq, 55; and Hanna Rizq, 29. At the bus stop a microbus driver, Nayer Mansour Sahrab, in his thirties, had an argument with them. The argument escalated into a verbal brawl; other Muslims at the bus stop joined in the fight which turned violent. The bus driver and his brother Alaa’ took out knives and stabbed the Rizqs. Sustaining various injuries, they were moved to Deir Mawwas hospital where Hanna directly met his death.
The Sahrabs were caught by the police and charged with beating the deceased to death. The police investigations confirmed the eyewitnesses’ reports.
The funeral
The security forces surrounded the hospital and forbade the family and friends of the victims from seeing them. The media was also banned from entering the hospital or talking to any official. A Coptic crowd of some 1500 gathered and conducted a sit-in in front of the hospital.
The following day the funeral of Hanna Rizq was held in the village under heightened security. Some 3000 Christian villagers took part, carrying banners that condemned the killing and what they termed persecution against Copts. Several eyewitnesses told Watani that, sadly, the Muslim villagers threw stones at the mourners and expressed jubilation at the loss.
Escorted by a police vehicle, the funeral procession moved to the cemetery for the burial. There, the police allowed the mourners to proceed in groups of 20, so as to prevent any rioting.
The family of the deceased refused to accept any formal condolences, which raised the question whether the murder would generate a vendetta. But Maurice Rizq confirmed to Watani that the family had no vendetta in mind. He said that conditions in the village made a formal, peaceful condolence ceremony very difficult.
Hanna was a tailor who leaves behind a young widow and three children the eldest of whom is five years old.
Culture of hate
Father Silwanus Lotfy of the church of the Holy Virgin and Anba Abra’am in Dalga said the incident was a criminal one but has assumed sectarian proportions. Last August another Copt, Fathi Gayed Fadlallah, 50, was killed by Hashem Hamdi Ahmed, 50, following a personal dispute. The killer was not caught; instead an underage young man was caught but he could not be prosecuted because of his young age and was placed in an institution.
The Copts of Dalga vociferously protested what they termed security inadequacy in dealing with culprits who commit crimes against Copts. More often than not such culprits are not caught by the police, or are caught but no evidence produced of their crimes so are promptly released. This generates the feeling among Copts that the security authorities are relaying the message to the public that it is all right to attack Copts; culprits face no penalty. All this, Copts claim, serves to consolidate notions of Copts as second class citizens and promotes a culture of hate.
Dalga is one of the largest villages in Deir Mawwas. Its largely Muslim population is 120,000 strong. The village has 100 mosques and five churches.