In a strongly worded statement, journalist Ashraf Helmy broke his silence regarding the concealment of the minor, Sylvana Atef, who suffers from a mental disability, by a government care home from her parents. This follows a decision by the Tamia Prosecutor’s Office in Fayoum to place the minor in a care facility under the Ministry of Social Solidarity ten days ago. Helmy condemned the treatment of the girl’s parents by the officials at the care home, who concealed their daughter under the pretext that the facility only accepts Muslims. The girl was transferred to another care home without any details provided, as mentioned by her mother.

Helmy questioned why the prosecutor did not initially decide to place the minor in a care home after she was abducted on October 28, 2025, by a man known as “M.S.”, who later claimed that she was his wife. He criticized the authorities for delaying the process and instead transferring the case to Tamia Court, where the girl was handed over to the kidnapper’s family. Subsequently, the court ruled that it had no jurisdiction in a session held on January 28, 2026, after initially accepting the case and postponing it coinciding with the girl’s appearance in irresponsible videos that sparked outrage within the Coptic and human rights communities, including accusations of blasphemy.

Helmy emphasized that hiding the minor from her parents in a care home operated by the Ministry of Social Solidarity constitutes a kidnapping by a government entity, unless there is a conspiracy or agreement between certain parties and the care home officials who have concealed the mentally challenged child from her parents until she turns 18 in March. This would presumably pave the way for issuing a certificate of conversion to Islam in support of the main kidnapper who claimed that the girl was his wife. Helmy finally called on the Egyptian government to disclose the whereabouts of the minor and return her to her parents while investigating the care home operated by the Ministry of Social Solidarity that decided to house her, ensuring that the girl is not under the care of another “Muslim.”