A video clip circulating in Egypt, of what is said to be an attempt to kidnap a child next to his mother, inside a commercial store in the city of Tanta, Gharbia Governorate, sparked widespread interaction on social media platforms.
The Egyptian Ministry of Interior published a video clip explaining this incident from another angle, while the child’s mother accused a woman of trying to kidnap him and said, “I could have returned home without my son, because this woman decided in a moment to kidnap him and break my heart for him for the rest of my life, if it weren’t for God’s protection and I caught up with her, God knows how many mothers have broken her heart for their son.”
The 6/30/2024 episode of the “Shabakat” program highlighted the varying positions of activists on Egyptian platforms between those who see it as a kidnapping attempt, and another group who believes that what happened is just a mistake.
Criminal or innocent?
According to activist Karim Al-Arini, the accused deliberately kidnapped the child and said, “She knew what she was doing. She was kidnapping the boy, leaving the store without anything she had bought, and she looked at the boy while taking his hand, and waited for the moment of the mother’s inattention.”
The account owner, Radwa, agreed with Al-Arini in his opinion and said, “Of course, she is denying that she wanted to kidnap him.” She continued, noting that there are clear differences between the two children, “Firstly, there is a clear difference in height and age between the two children. Secondly, she looked at the boy while she was holding him tight, knowing that he was not her son.” She concluded her tweet, confirming the validity of her point of view, “The possibility that she did not think about it is zero.”
While the tweeter Osama ruled out the hypothesis that the accused intended to kidnap the child, saying, “How can a woman go and kidnap children and take her son with her?” He continued, pointing out the validity of his point of view, “If you notice at the beginning of the video, there were 3 children next to each other. Have mercy on people. Literally, people are currently walking in the street forgetting themselves due to the many worries of the world.”
Tweeter Maysa Ghanem agreed with Osama and found an excuse for the accused’s behavior, explaining that “it was obvious that this woman was distracted. This happens a lot when a person’s mind is preoccupied, and she can make a mistake, and it actually happened to me.”
A few hours after the video of the kidnapping attempt spread on social media, the Gharbia Security Directorate announced the arrest of the woman accused of kidnapping the child, and decided to detain her for 4 days pending investigation.
The Egyptian Ministry of Interior said in a statement: “It was possible to identify and arrest the perpetrator of the incident, who is a housewife, and no criminal information was found for her. When she was confronted, she confirmed that she had mistakenly taken the aforementioned child instead of one of her two sons.”
6/30/2024–|Last update: 6/30/202408:23 PM (Mecca time)