Christian Teacher Severely Beaten by Muslim Villagers in Uganda for Leaving Islam
A Ugandan teacher who converted to Christianity was severely beaten by a group of Muslim villagers who were angered when they found out he had left the Islamic faith.
Persecution watchdog sources such as Morning Star News reports that the attack occurred earlier in November in Bufuja, Uganda. The Muslim villagers reportedly destroyed 30-year-old Malik Higenyi's maize crops, left him threatening messages on his phone, and beat him unconscious.
"Be informed that you risk your life and that of the entire family if you happen to come back to your house," one of the anonymous texts read. "We curse you and your family. You are an apostate according to Islamic law, and you deserve to die."
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Muslims make up only a minority, 13.7 percent, of the Ugandan population, according to the CIA World Factbook, while Christians, mainly Protestants and Roman Catholics, account for close to 85 percent.
Higenyi is believed to have turned to Christ after a pastor came to his house and told him about the Christian faith, and has since been visiting and guiding him.
Higenyi revealed that he was beaten with a "blunt object," and woke up later at the village health center.
"Before reaching my house, suddenly I was attacked by three people. They started shouting, saying I am a disgrace to the Muslim fraternity of Lubanga mosque," the man explained.
"The attackers hit me with a blunt object, and I fell down and did not know what happened from there."
There have been a number of attacks on Christians in Uganda in recent months, including a case in September when a woman who attended a church service was beaten by her Muslim husband for allegedly converting to Christianity.
Fatuma Baluka of the eastern Budaka District revealed in another report by Morning Star New that she was knocked unconscious and ferociously beaten by her husband, Hussein Kasolo, after attending a nearby Christian church service.
"When I arrived home, my husband shouted at me as an 'infidel,' and then and there started hitting me with a metallic object," the 21-year-old woman said. "I fell down, only to find myself in a hospital bed."
In another incident from August, eight children from the Busalamu village in the country's southwestern Luuka district were reportedly beaten by their Muslim families and cast away as "infidels," also for deciding to follow Jesus.
"The parents have totally disowned them as infidels," the pastor who told the children about Jesus revealed at the time. "They need prayers to come to terms with the separation from parents for choosing Christ."
