by Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Chief International Correspondent
TRIPOLI/CAIRO (Worthy News) – A young Egyptian Coptic Christian has died in Libya after being tortured by armed kidnappers for refusing to renounce his faith in Jesus Christ and convert to Islam, according to relatives and people familiar with his family.
Milad Malak, 20, who served as a deacon at a Coptic church in his home village of Sabrbay, traveled to Libya in search of employment amid economic hardship in Egypt.
Egyptian news website Safha1 blamed a cell affiliated with the Islamic State (IS) group for Malak’s abduction and killing. However, the allegation could not be independently verified, and IS had not claimed responsibility as of Monday.
His captors demanded that he abandon his Christian faith and embrace Islam, but Malak refused despite being subjected to severe abuse, according to Egyptian Christians familiar with the situation.
The young man’s sister, Madonna Malek, said in statements shared with Worthy News that the kidnappers tortured her brother after the family paid a ransom, but he remained steadfast in his Christian faith.
FAMILY SEEKS JUSTICE
“Milad traveled on September 2nd with two Muslim friends from his village. The last contact we had with him was on the morning of October 4th,” Madonna Malek recalled.
“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 are demanding a ransom of $4,700 for his release,” she added.
The kidnappers held Malak alongside other Egyptian workers, including his two Muslim friends, in the western Libyan city of Zliten, according to family accounts.
Madonna Malek explained that the families of the two Muslim friends each paid the requested $4,700 ransom, securing their release. The survivors subsequently told Malak’s relatives what had happened to him.
“We transferred the requested ransom ($4,700), but after receiving the money, they did not release him,” she said.
REFUSING TO RENOUNCE FAITH
“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,’” Madonna Malek stressed.
“They subjected him to all manner of torture until he attained martyrdom,” she said.
The two surviving Muslim friends returned to Egypt, where they were receiving medical treatment, according to Coptic media. Christian advocacy group Open Doors also cited the survivors’ accounts of the pressure placed on Malak to renounce his faith.
The precise circumstances and date of Malak’s death have not been independently established.
His mother, Maryam Fawzi, appealed to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and the country’s Foreign Ministry to help recover her son’s remains so the family could give him a Christian burial.
CHRISTIAN FUNERAL
“I have been praying with her,” a friend of the family told Worthy News. “He was faithful to Christ till his last breath.”
The friend, an evangelical church worker who requested anonymity for security reasons in Muslim-majority Egypt, confirmed that Malak’s body was eventually returned to Egypt.
Funeral prayers were held October 28 at the historic Church of the Archangel Michael in his home village of Sabrbay, near the city of Tanta in Egypt’s northern Nile Delta region, about 90 kilometers (56 miles) north of Cairo.
Hundreds of mourners attended the funeral, including clergy and members of the local Coptic Christian community, Worthy News learned.
Malak’s killing has renewed concerns about the safety of Egyptian Coptic Christians working in Libya, where Christians have previously faced kidnappings, violence and killings by Islamist militants.
LIBYAN CHRISTIAN MARTYRS
His murder also revived memories of the February 2015 execution of 21 Christians, including 20 Egyptian Coptic migrant workers and one Ghanaian, by Islamic State group militants on a Libyan beach.
These killings shocked Egypt and the wider Christian world after IS released a video showing the men being beheaded. The victims became widely known as the 21 Coptic martyrs of Libya.
The latest killing has highlighted the dangers facing Egyptian Christians who travel to neighboring Libya in search of employment amid economic pressures at home.
Egypt itself ranks 42nd on the 2026 World Watch List of 50 countries where Christians face the most severe persecution, published by Christian advocacy group Open Doors.
However, the situation is considerably worse in Libya, which ranks ninth. Open Doors says Christians there face threats from Islamist militants and criminal gangs, including kidnappings, forced labor and killings, amid continued political instability.
Open Doors estimates that about 10.2 million Christians remain in Egypt, representing 8.8 percent of its population, compared with just 36,300 Christians in Libya, or about 0.5 percent of its population.
Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
