Extremists cut off the hand of a convert to Christianity in Uganda weeks after he left Islam

NAIROBI, Kenya – Muslim extremists in eastern Uganda last month cut off the hand of a 42-year-old father who left Islam and converted to Christianity in June, sources said.

Musa John Casada, from Maumu Village, Lucca District, was ambushed on July 26 while trying to flee to safety with his family, who joined him in their faith in Christ at an outdoor event on June 17, said his wife, Asia. Naijaga. . The couple has six children, including two adults.

She added that Kasada was attacked at around 11:45 am in Nakabondo village near Pukadi village while fleeing for safety to Nawaningi village, Iganga district.

The sources said that after Kasada and his family attended church mass for three weeks and were absent from Friday prayers in the mosque, their priest received a message from one of Kasada’s brothers saying: “We have learned that Moses Kasada and the family attend his church. This must stop immediately, otherwise your church is in Risk “.

He said the priest, whose name has been withheld for security reasons, arranged to house the Casada family with a local Maumo official. Their location was discovered by Muslims in the area two weeks later, the sources said, with one of them apparently showing up there to work on a sugarcane plantation while the family was preparing to leave on July 26.

Naigaga said the Muslim learned during his conversation with the owner of the house that the Kasada family was on their way to Iganga district. He said the family had traveled 15 kilometers (nine miles) when four Muslim extremists stopped them in the middle of a road between sugar cane plantations.

They began to interrogate my husband, saying: Do you think we will not catch up with you? We were following you from home [el funcionario local, no identificado por razones de seguridad] So here, today is your last day in life. Naijaga said, “God gave you our hands. They started beating my husband and then they grabbed me and tied me up. They forced me to sing Christian songs when they started cutting off my husband’s hand.”

Naigaga said that one of the assailants, Ndio Huraira, hit her husband with a large stick on his back while the others started beating him, and that Kasimo Majulu took a Somali long sword and began cutting off his hand, with the intention of killing him. He said that after his hand and part of his forearm were cut off, a truck carrying sugarcane workers arrived and the attackers disappeared inside the farm.

“Then the truck workers bandaged the wound on my husband’s hand, untied me and took us to a nearby clinic for first aid,” she said, adding that she called the local official. “He came and found my husband in severe pain and arranged an ambulance that took him to Mbale Hospital for referral for specialized treatment.”

While waiting for Kasadah to recover, the family did not file a police report.

The attack was the latest in several cases of persecution of Christians in Uganda documented by the Morning Star News.

The Ugandan constitution and other laws provide for religious freedom, including the right to propagate one’s religion and to convert from one religion to another. Muslims make up no more than 12% of Uganda’s population, with high concentrations in the eastern regions of the country.

This article was originally published by Morning Star News.