Sources say a Muslim in eastern Uganda beat his wife and kids for converting to Christianity and destroyed their church this month.
Kulusumu Namulondo and her kids, 12 and 9, were hospitalized for three days after being beaten by 44-year-old Soicha Zubairi, according to the mother.
Over the course of three months, Elder Patrick Omala and his wife repeatedly visited their home after church. Namulondo and her children attended Fit for Jesus Evangelical Church on Oct. 12. She said her husband called after the service.
“My husband began to argue with me and insult me, claiming I was bringing shame to the family and misguiding the children into a religion that went against Islam,” Namulondo shared with Morning Star News. “I was afraid because I put my children’s and my life at risk.”
Charles Kitinyo, the church’s lead pastor, helped them find housing after she confided in him.
Zubairi arrived at the church gate around 5 p.m. and inquired with the watchman about a mother and two children who’d attended the service. The gatekeeper directed them to the unavailable church administrator.
According to the watchman, Zubairi was upset when he left and went into a Muslim’s home. Zubairi phoned his wife a second time, at roughly 7 p.m.
Namulondo said that when she saw his call, she didn’t answer because she knew he would ask where they were. Thereafter, he wrote a message that revealed our place of stay. I didn’t give it any serious thought. I had the feeling that he wanted to frighten us.
Namulondo said she told Pastor Kitinyo of the calls that night, and he advised her to remain in the house and not go outdoors until the church could arrange a safe place for them to stay, he told Morning Star News.
The next day, Oct. 13, at about 5 p.m., the children were outside when they saw their father approaching with a walking stick, and they quickly entered the house. Zubairi arrived and inquired about the homeowner’s whereabouts. Namulondo told him that the homeowner was visiting her children at boarding school, according to one of the children, who is unnamed for safety.
“He then became very wild and pulled our mother outside the house and started beating her and shouting in a loud voice, saying, ‘You are disobeying and denouncing the religion of Allah, and you ought to die,’” the child told Morning Star News.
Shouting for help, the children tried to rescue their mother, and Zubairi turned his anger on his son, Namulondo said.
“My husband hit my son with the walking stick several times, and he soon fell screaming and wailing in great pain—he fractured the right arm,” she told Morning Star News. “While my son was on the ground, my husband started beating up my daughter and me. Thank God, neighbors arrived, and my husband fled away.”
Subsequently, Namulondo and the children were promptly transported to Mbale Hospital, 12 kilometers away, where they received treatment for a period of three days. She had bruises on her left hand and a swollen left leg; her daughter had bruises near her right knee. They were released from the hospital on Oct. 16.
Zubairi, according to her, collected a Muslim mob and destroyed the church structure on Oct. 15 while they were still in the hospital.
Zubairi is nowhere to be found, but he was reportedly in Kampala on Oct. 22.
Muguti Police Station received a report about the incident from church leaders.
The attack was the latest of many instances of Christians’ persecution in Uganda that Morning Star News has documented.
The Ugandan constitution and laws guarantee religious freedom, permitting the practice of faith and conversion. Muslims account for at most 12% of Uganda’s population, mainly in the east.