Archpriest Girgis Jamīl of the Virgin Mary Church in the village of Mīt Bashār, al-Sharqia governorate, said the MPs of the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), and mosque preachers successfully appeased angry local residents after a minor girl escaped and a number of Muslims accused the church of hiding her.

"Muslim elders in the village formed human shields to protect the church and my house that some of them were wounded while trying to calm things down until security authorities announced that they have the young girl and are investigating her," said Jamīl.

Some local residents in the village said that the vanished girl, 16-year-old Rānyā Khalīl, a student in the intermediate stage of education, has converted to Islam six months ago and broke away from her Coptic mother and even celebrated her engagement to a Muslim young man in the village 10 days ago.

The residents said the girl's relatives kidnapped her and some Muslims were indignant and set fire to two vehicles that belong to a Copt in the village.