Late in the evening of last Friday, Kamilia Zakher, wife of Fr Taddawus of the church of Mar-Girgis in Deir Mawwas, Minya, Upper Egypt, was handed over to the Church leaders at the papal headquarters in Anba Ruweis, Abassiya, Cairo. The move put an end to the demonstrations held by the Deir Mawwas Copts at Anba Ruweis grounds demanding that the young woman, who had gone missing since the previous Sunday, be found and handed over to the Church or to her family. They were reacting to what they saw as deliberate procrastination on the part of the security authorities to search for the missing woman.
Anba Aghapius, Bishop of Deir Mawwas, told Watani that he was grateful to Pope Shenouda III, who is in the United States on a pastoral mission, for his prayers and efforts to have Ms Kamilia found, and to the security authorities for finding her before matters got out of hand. Anba Aghapius refused to divulge the details of the young woman’s disappearance, saying that “we are happy she’s back, and we believe that preserving the peace of the community is of the utmost importance.”
Local papers claimed that, according to security officials, Ms Kamilia had left her home on Sunday evening of her own accord, denying she had been abducted and claiming she had not attempted or been forced to convert to Islam.