Egyptian president pledges justice for Christian woman stripped naked and paraded through street by mob

'We are all one and the law must take its course'

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi (Getty Images )

Egypt’s president has promised those responsible for stripping an elderly Christian woman and parading her naked through the streets will be brought to justice.

The 70-year-old woman was stripped during an outbreak of violence by a mob of around 300 Muslim men in a village in southern Egypt on 20 May.

The mob also burned down seven homes belonging to Christian families, according to a statement issued by the local Orthodox Coptic church, after rumours circulated in the village that a Christian man was having a relationship with a Muslim woman.

"They burned the house and went in and dragged me out, threw me in front of the house and ripped my clothes. I was just as my mother gave birth to me, screaming and crying," the elderly woman told Reuters a week after the attack.

The woman was reported to be the mother of the man involved in the rumoured affair. She has since met with church leaders, the Diocese of Minya and Abu Qirqas said.

President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi denounced the violence and said such attacks divide Egyptians.

Speaking on local TV on Monday he said: “We are all one and the law must take its course."

The incident took place in the village of Al-Karm where, according to local media, similar violence has flared up in recent years.

The violence is representative of the tensions between the two religions in the province south of Cairo, where extra-marital affairs between Muslims and Christians are strictly taboo.

Egypt's Coptic Christians account for about 10 per cent of the country's 90 million people.

Since taking power in 2014, President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi has changed some laws to ease restrictions on Christians building churching and entering politics, but many grievances remain.