The Minya province in Egypt. Credit: Roland Unger via Wikimedia Commons.

JNS.org – A Muslim mob in Egypt attacked an elderly Christian woman and torched several Christian homes in a recent attack in the country’s Minya province.

According to a statement by a local Orthodox Coptic Church and security officials, the attack began after rumors spread that the woman’s son had an affair with a Muslim woman. Police have so far arrested six men and are looking for 12 more. Many Egyptian Christians blamed extremist Salafi Muslims for being behind the attack.

Anba Makarios, a top Christian cleric in Minya, told the Egyptian network Dream TV that the mob dragged the elderly woman out of her home, beat her, and stripped her clothing, then forced her to walk through the streets naked while they chanted “Allahu Akbar.”

“No one did anything and the police took no preemptive or security measures in anticipation of the attacks,” he said.

“We are not living in a jungle or a tribal society. It’s incorrect for anyone to declare himself judge, police, and ruler,” Makarios told another Egyptian TV station, Sada el-Balad television.

Christians comprise roughly 10 percent of Egypt’s population of 90 million. Since rising to power, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi has promised to address Christian grievances such as changing election laws to allow more Christian lawmakers to serve in the national legislature, and to ease restrictions on building new churches. But Egyptian Christians say they are still the frequent target of Muslim criminal gangs and are often victimized in disputes with Muslims.