Christian Mother of 11 Poisoned to Death in Uganda by Muslim Sister-In-Law Months After She Left Islam
A Christian mother of 11 was poisoned to death last week by her Muslim sister-in-law in an eastern Ugandan village, neighborhood sources told a leading Christian persecution watchdog organization.
Namumbeiza Swabura, a Muslim convert to Christianity, succombed to food poisoning last Wednesday after enduring months of constant threats from local Muslims after she and her husband — a former Islamic school teacher [sheikh] — accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior in August 2014, sources informed Morning Star News.
Swabura is survived by her husband, Mugoya Muhammad, and her 11 children, the youngest being a 5-month-old infant.
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Sources allege that Swabura's sister-in-law, Jafaran Wowa, visited Swabura at her home around 4 p.m. last Wednesday in Kibuku District's village of Nabuli and offered to prepare Swabura a meal known in Uganda as matoke, which consists of cooked plantains.
After preparing the dish, Wowa did not eat any and left quickly after Swabura finished consuming it. When Muhammed arrived back at the house shortly after his sister left, Swabura was complaining about an extreme stomach pain. The report states that Swabura told her husband that the pain started almost immediately after she ate the meal that Wowa cooked for her.
As Swabura's condition worsened, her face grew pale, she began to vomit and her nose began bleeding uncontrollably.
While Muhammad frantically tried to find a rental car in order to drive his wife to the hospital, Swabura died inside the home. Since he was financially unable to pursue legal action for the loss of his wife, Muhammad buried Swabura the very next day.
The source who spoke with Morning Star News said they believe that Wowa was encouraged and possibly paid by other Muslims to carry out the murder of her convert sister-in-law, which she knew would leave 11 children without a mother.
"We suspect that Muhammad's sister, Jafaran Wowa, was given a lot of money to carry out the heinous act," the area source said. "This was a deadly drug, like rat poison or Bromethalin."
Swabura and Muhammad have received numerous death threats since their conversion from Islam to Christianity last November, which is considered by some hardline Muslims to be apostasy and a crime punishable by death.
"We are fearing for our lives as the Muslims are threatening to kill us if we continue in Christianity," Muhammad told Morning Star News in an interview in May.
The couple's pastor, James Kalaja, who pastors the New Hope Church in Nabuli, has also received threats for his leadership role in the church, which has forced him to move his family to another village that he feels is a less dangerous environment for them. Kalaja asserted that Christians are not safe in Nabuli.
"I only go to conduct service," Kalaja told Morning Star News. "Christians are facing threats here and the Muslims would not like to see a church in Nabuli village. It is sad that we have just lost our sister. The Christians are shaken by her death. We have been praying for Muhammad due to several threatening messages that he has been receiving through his phone."
