CAIRO — July 16 marked the fourth month since Nahed Lashin, the first female mayor in Egypt’s Sharqiyah governorate, disappeared under mysterious circumstances, raising many questions about whether her disappearance or abduction was related to her being a female mayor and whether such a hypothesis would prevent women from running for positions of power.

Lashin became mayor of Hanout village in Sharqiyah governorate in September 2014, thus becoming the first Egyptian woman to win the post of mayor after the January 25 and June 30 revolutions, despite the heavy participation of women in both events. Lashin is the second woman in the history of Egypt to win the post of mayor, after Eva Habil, who became mayor of the village of Kamboha in Assiut in 2009.

Mayors in Egypt are appointed by the security directorate of their village, which chooses them based on their reputation, the opinion of the residents and the plans they provide to maintain security and take care of the interests of the citizens in the village.

Lashin’s disappearance has led to many rumors about her fate. On July 26, some newspapers reported that her body was found, while others reported that she had returned home. Salah Lashin, the mayor’s brother, denied the two rumors on the same day in press statements.