By Essam Fadl
CAIRO: Police found the dead body of a pastor in Assuit Tuesday, where preliminary investigation showed that the he was murdered two or three days ago in a possible attempted robbery.
The people of Shatab village in Assuit found priest Dawoud Boutros, Pastor of Prince Tadros El-Shatbi Church, stabbed inside his home when they noticed that he has been absent from the church for days and did not attend the weekly sermon on Sunday.
Eyewitness told Daily News Egypt that the priest was supposed to give the sermon last Sunday, but he did not show up and his mobile phone was off.
When they received a worried phone call from his daughter in Hurgada, they went to his home to check, which was when they found his dead body.
“When we knocked the door and he did not open, we broke into the house to find him stabbed, so we called the police,” neighbors said.
Medical sources told Daily News Egypt that the murder might have taken place on Sunday. They said that he was stabbed twice with a sharp knife in the neck and side.
Security sources inside Assuit police station confirmed the robbery of a steel safe from the victim’s house.
Thousands of Copts gathered in front of the priest’s house holding crosses, demanding the arrest of the murderers chanting, “With our souls and blood we sacrifice our lives to the cross” and “One, two, where is our father’s right”.
A number of Copts intend to stage a protest on Thursday in front of the governor of Assuit’s office to condemn his decision to stop issuing building and renewal permits to churches inside the governorate.
