QENA - A criminal court in the Upper Egyptian city of Qena sentenced a 21-year-old Copt to 15 years in jail for raping a 12-year-old Muslim girl, an incident which the Egyptians Government blamed for triggering sectarian strife in Qena in late 2009. "Girgis baroumi Girgis is sentenced to 15 years in prison for raping a Muslim girl in Farshout," Chief Judge Ahmed Omran said, adding that the defendant was committed to paying LE5,001 to the victim in initial damages. A security source said that the convict could not attend the session due to lack of security inside and around the court as relatives of the raped girl had to take revenge. The police had arrested Girgis in November 2009 for the rape in Farshout, 600km south of Cairo. Following the incident, angry Muslims burned and destroyed dozens of shops belonging to Christians in the village.
