Coptic Christian Milad Malak (20) was kidnapped in Libya last month by suspected Islamic State militants who killed him after he refused to renounce his faith.
Milad came from the Egyptian village of Sebarbay in Gharbia governate, where he served as a deacon in his local Coptic church. Sebarbay is located beside the city of Tanta in the Nile Delta region, around 90 km north of Cairo.
On 2 September Milad travelled to Libya with two Muslim friends to look for work. Arriving in the city of Zliten, they stayed with other Egyptian migrant workers and were part of a group kidnapped on 4 October and held hostage for ransom.
Milad’s sister Madonna Malak said in statements shared with Worthy News, “Milad travelled on September 2nd with two Muslim friends from his village. The last contact we had with him was on the morning of October 4th. Then, on the morning of Tuesday, October 6th – around 11:00 AM – we received a message from Milad informing us that he had been kidnapped and was being tortured. The kidnappers were demanding a ransom of $4,700 [approximately €4,200] for his release. We transferred the requested ransom, but after receiving the money, they did not release him. Instead, they tortured him, demanding that he renounce his faith – yet he refused, telling them, ‘Even if you were to hack me to pieces, I would never renounce my faith.’ They subjected him to all manner of torture until he attained martyrdom.”
Milad’s friends were released after their families paid ransoms of the same amount and they are now receiving medical treatment in Egypt. They said that when the militants discovered Milad was the only Christian in the group they subjected him to intense pressure over several days to leave his faith and convert to Islam, including torture and death threats.
Milad’s body was eventually repatriated to Egypt and his funeral was held on 28 October at the Church of the Archangel Michael in Sebarbay, where hundreds of mourners honoured him as a martyr. “He was faithful to Christ till his last breath,” said a family friend.
Milad’s experience echoes the 2015 massacre of twenty Copts and one Ghanian on a beach in Libya, where they had gone to seek work. Islamic State militants kidnapped the Christians and beheaded them after they refused to renounce their faith. The militants filmed the incident and shared it online.
(International Christian Concern, Open Doors, Worthy News)
Map: Church in Chains Global Guide