Copt Killed in Cathedral Attacks, Pregnant Wife Holds President Morsi Responsible
A number of Christian leaders and members of the Maspero Youth Union in addition hundreds of Copts attended the funeral of 34-year-old Copt Daoud Makram Daoud, one of the victims of the Khosos attacks this past Friday and Saturday in the El-Khosos City of Qaliubiya.
The participants organized a demonstration in the village after burying the victim, rebuking the attacks that targeted Copts in the area, and stressed keeping the Christian faith in Egypt.
The victim's father denounced the attacks committed by security forces against the cathedral after they were seen throwing tear gas into the precincts of St. Mark's Cathedral in Abbassiya. Unidentified attackers struck the sacred cathedral with stones, Molotov cocktails and gun shots.
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"We thought that you are a president for all Egyptians, but you proved that you are only president for your group," the victim's father reportedly said. "You spend the money you have in burning and attacking [the country's] possessions and its people. What religion says this?"
The victim's mother, 58-year-old Samah Makram, expressed her deep grief over the death of her son, adding that her son had gone to Khosos to find work in order to provide for his family.
"We were going to our eldest brother Issa, when four people stopped us and asked my brother Daoud his name," the victim's brother, Kyrillos, told Mideast Christian News.
"They searched for the cross on his hand using a flashlight, and when they found the cross on his hand, they stabbed him in his heart," he continued. "They dragged him about two meters and then left him in his last throes, took my money and left."
Kyrillos said he then took his brother to the nearest hospital, where he later passed away.
He explained that the cause of the incident stemmed from a previous altercation between a Christian and Muslim in which the Muslim later died.
This led to reports of Muslim men to encourage others at a local mosque to take action.
"Every Muslim come out with a weapon, and whoever meets a Christian person, kill him without hesitation," Kyrillos explained.
The victim's wife, Samia Malak, 35, is pregnant and will now have to care for their other three children as well.
"We have three children, Ilaria (fifth grade), Irene (second grade) and Karas (fourth grade), and I am four months pregnant," Malak told MCN.
She added that she asked her husband not to leave the house due to the clashes in the area, but he refused, saying those people who have been killed are not better than him and expressed his hope for martyrdom.
She demanded President Morsi bear the responsibility of her husband's death.
"My husband's blood is on your neck, O Morsi, God willing our Lord will judge you. What fault do my children have to be made orphans?" she reportedly said.
The victim's brother, Issa Makram, said that security forces were present during the attacks that targeted his brother but did not intervene.
He expressed his astonishment that someone could be killed just for being Christian.
