CAIRO: Some 150 Coptic Christians protested in front of the Bandar Al Minya police station some 300 kilometers south of Cairo on Sunday over a Christian girl who has been missing for four days, local press reported. The father of the missing girl claimed that a Muslim neighbor of their's is responsible for her disappearence in yet another example of sectarianism in Egypt. The director of the Upper Egyptian security received a communication from the Minya – the major city in central Egypt – commissioner, reporting that Wagih Eyad Saeed, a 47-year-old carpenter who lives in Bandar Al Minya, submitted a claim against his Muslim neighbor Mohamed Marzuok Mohammed, accusing the latter of abducting his daughter, Neveen, 21, while she was heading to work at a local hairdresser in the city four days ago and has not been seen since. Local Minya police brought the Muslim man in for questioning, where he denied the kidnapping of the girl, reports indicated. The investigations confirmed that the girl was not abducted and that she is hiding in a location known to her family in the Upper Egyptian city. Police argue she is hiding from them and that she goes to the hairdressing shop where she works on a regular basis. The family denies these accusations. Surprisingly, the girl herself then went to Bandar Minya police department where she confirmed the police record and denied the claim filed by her father against the young Muslim neighbor. She also confirmed that she had left home willingly and converted to Islam last July and produced documents certifying her declaration of Islam that was endorsed by Al-Azhar and said she had decided to marry Marzouk, Youm el-Saba'a reported. Marzouk was subsequntly released when all charges against him were dropped. The girl was also released and not forced to accompany her family back home, as she is over the legal age that gives her all rights of taking personal decisions. **reporting by Mohamed Abdel Salam BM
