Muslim mob attacks Christian homes in Egyptian province
CAIRO - A Muslim mob ransacked and torched seven Christian homes in a province south of the Egyptian capital, Cairo, after rumors spread that a Christian man had an affair with a Muslim woman, according to a statement by the local Orthodox Coptic church.
Released late Wednesday, it said that during the May 20 attack, the mother of the Christian man was publicly stripped of her clothes by the mob to humiliate her. Her son fled the village.
Police arrived at the scene nearly two hours after the attacks began and arrested six people, according to the statement by Minya's top cleric, Anba Makarios. He said the family of the Christian man had notified the police of threats against them by Muslim villagers the day before the attack.
"No one did anything and the police took no pre-emptive or security measures in anticipation of the attacks," he told a television interviewer Wednesday night.
