A Muslim couple and their adult son who received Christ in November were burned to death on Dec. 26 in eastern Uganda, sources said.
In the Budini Nyanza area of Kaliro town, Kaliro District, 64-year-old Kaiga Muhammad, his wife Sawuya Kaiga and their son Swagga Amuza Kaiga, 26, had put their faith in Christ on Nov. 22 when members of an undisclosed church visited their home with the gospel.
The pastor of the church, undisclosed for security reasons, said that after the three family members received Christ’s salvation, they requested prayer for Swagga Amuza Kaiga, who was suffering from malaria.
“We prayed for the son, and immediately he was restored to good health,” the pastor told Morning Star News. “The three members of the family who gave their lives to Christ decided to keep their faith secret for fear of Muslims of the area, since Muhammad himself was a committee member in one of the mosques in Budini Nyanza zone.”
On Dec. 15, area Muslims noted Muhammad leaving the church’s worship service in a nearby village and informed area chairperson Wangule Abudu. The chairperson on Dec. 16 went to Muhammad’s home to question him, and Muhammad openly told him that he and other family members had given their lives to Christ, the pastor said.
The angry Abudu gave Muhammad one week to renounce Christianity, saying that if he refused, he would mobilize the Muslim community against the family, said a relative who was away when the parents and son accepted Christ.
“Abudu said that our family had blasphemed the name of Allah and embarrassed the Muslim community,” the family member, whose name is withheld for security reasons, told Morning Star News.
Area Muslims on Dec. 26 set ablaze the family’s house with gas and burned the three members of the family beyond recognition, said a neighbor who had arrived with others too late to save them and the structure.
Kaliro police arrived after the lives had been lost and, after investigating, arrested Wangule Abudu, 62, and Ismail Njagi, 20. The two Muslims were being kept at Kaliro central police station on charges of murder and arson, sources said.
The bodies of the deceased were taken to Bumanya Heath Centre for postmortem.
The attack was the latest of many instances of persecution of Christians in Uganda that Morning Star News has documented.
Uganda’s constitution and other laws provide for religious freedom, including the right to propagate one’s faith and convert from one faith to another. Muslims make up no more than 12 percent of Uganda’s population, with high concentrations in eastern areas of the country.
