'More than 40 days have passed since my daughter was kidnapped': Egyptian Christian girls at risk

'I don't know how long I should wait. Wait until they tell me that my daughter is killed or got married?'

Teenage Christians are currently at risk of being kidnapped and forced to convert to then marry Muslim men in Egypt.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - According to Christian persecution group International Christian Concern,  at least seven cases have cropped up involving the forced conversion and marriage of kidnapped teen girls.

One survivor, 19-year-old Amal Shaky, was kidnapped on her way to class at Cairo University.

She left her home that morning at 7 a.m and was expected home by 2:30 p.m. When she had yet to return by 4 p.m., her father attempted to call but her phone had been shut off.

At 5:30, her brother and cousin began a search of the university and hoped she decided to attend a party after her classes. When other students left the party at 9 p.m., they claimed they had not seen Shaky.

That night, Shaky's family scoured the campus and local hospitals in hopes of finding the young woman but the next day, her father Zakaria was forced to file a missing persons report with the Mohandessin police.

"When I asked the officer to file a complaint of [the] kidnapping of my daughter, he said to me, 'Maybe you killed your daughter and threw away her body," Zakaria claimed.

He was then told a report would not be filed until authorities investigated the situation.Two hours later, the Mohandessin police created a false story about Shaky's location when she disappeared. Zakaria called a relative and had him convince another officer to file a real report.

"He agreed to file a report but refused to write that Amal was kidnapped and wrote instead that she is missing," Zakaria said.

Though a lack of evidence would lead most authorities to file her as simply missing, Shaky had a history of attempted abduction.

Five years ago, she was abducted by four men. A formal complaint was filed but authorities did nothing to help her or her family.

Zakaria and other relatives had to work alone to save her and eventually had one of the four kidnappers convicted. He was sentenced to seven years in prison but was never arrested and he was never imprisoned.

Zakaria waited one week after filing the new report of his daughter's abduction and when he met with the prosecutor, he shared her previous situation and described how none of her abductors were ever convicted.

Police continue to turn Zakaria and his family away, claiming they are still investigating.

"More than 40 days have passed since my daughter was kidnapped, and they say that the matter is under investigation," Zakaria lamented. "I don't know how long I should wait. Wait until they tell me that my daughter is killed or got married?"

Unfortunately, Zakaria is unable to depend on local authorities and his daughter remains in the hands of an unknown number of people who may or may not have killed her or forced her into conversion and marriage.

Shaky's story is one of many as a rash of kidnappings and conversion-marriages continue throughout Egypt.

Humanitarian group Human Rights Watch recently reported an alarming increase of human rights abuses in Egypt - so much so that it has become an international concern.

Children's rights director Zama Coursen-Neff described just how bad Egypt's humanitarian situation is: "Some Egyptian officials have disappeared children and apparently tortured them, then faked arrest records to cover it up. The authorities have turned a blind eye to the reports of abuse and refused to investigate."

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