In a harrowing incident in eastern Uganda, a Muslim father severely burned his 19-year-old daughter on 21st July after discovering she had converted to Christianity.
Naasike Maliyati, a resident of Nampologoma in Butaleja District, attended an evangelistic crusade on 15 July while visiting her grandmother in Lwangoli, Busoba Sub-County, Mbale District.
During the event, she decided to embrace Christianity.
"When they called people to give their lives to Christ, I also went and prayed to receive Jesus Christ as my Lord and Saviour," Maliyati said, according to Morning Star News. "When I went back home, I told my sister that I had left Islam. She went and told our dad of my conversion to Christianity."
On the following Sunday, after attending a church service, Maliyati was met by her angry father, Abdulrahim Kutosi, 44, and uncles.
"They tied me up, beat me, and finally my dad picked up a hot flat iron and hot water and burned me and shouted loudly that I was an embarrassment to the family," said Maliyati, a student at Noor Islamic Institute in Mbale.
"I was burned for leaving Islam and converting to Christianity, as my father furiously continued shouting that I had shamed the family," the teenager added. "He continued saying that even Allah is annoyed with me as the pain continued inside my body."
Maliyati was then ordered by her father to stop attending church services. Subsequently, relatives placed her on a motorbike and abandoned her near the Namatala River. A passing Christian motorcyclist named Nicolas Ndobooli rescued her, demonstrating the actions of a Good Samaritan.
"I saw someone yelling for help and calling, 'Jesus, Jesus, Jesus!'" Ndobooli said. "Being a Christian, I decided to stop and took the risk and put her on my motorbike to the clinic."
Ndobooli then paid 30,000 Ugandan shillings for her medical care and treatment. Local Christians have condemned Kutosi's actions.
Uganda's constitution protects religious freedom, including conversion. However, in practice, these protections are not always well enforced, and it often falls to vigilant journalism to bring abuses to light and prevent them from being ignored.
Despite Muslims comprising only 12 percent of the population, predominantly in the eastern regions, incidents of religious persecution, particularly against Christians, remain a serious concern.
