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Christian Slain, Mother and Daughter Burned for their Faith

Ronald Twinomugisha was killed in Iganga District, Uganda on March 30, 2024. (Morning Star News)

NAIROBI, Kenya (Morning Star News) – An evangelist was slain and a mother and her 10-year-old daughter suffered serious burns for their faith in separate incidents last month in eastern Uganda.

In Busei B village, Nakalama Sub-County in Iganga District, sources said Ronald Twinomugisha had received threats by text message from Muslims before he was hacked to death on March 30. He was 32.

Twinomugisha moved to the area from western Uganda in February 2022, and by the end of 2023 he had led four Muslims to Christ, a source said. The four former Muslims had relocated elsewhere due to threats from their families.

“In March 2023, Twinomugisha came to my office and reported threatening messages from Muslims,” area chairperson Gozan Waiswa told Morning Star News. “Their complaint was him changing Muslims to Christianity.”

At about 7 p.m., neighbors saw men in Islamic attire entering Twinomugisha’s home, an area source said.

“At around 8 p.m. I heard an alarm and a call for help then followed by a loud bang like that of splitting firewood,” said the source, whose identify is withheld for security purposes. “It was a loud wailing saying, ‘Please don’t kill me! Please don’t kill me! I am working for Jesus Christ! Please, Jesus is the one who sent me!’ I feared to come out of my house, but shortly the voice stopped.”

Neighbors found Twinomugisha’s body in a pool of blood outside his compound the following morning.

“The attackers left a note saying, ‘We learned what you have been teaching, and misleading Muslims and leading them to a wrong religion from the course and path of Allah,’” the source said.

Police took the body to a mortuary for postmortem and have mounted a hunt for four suspects.

Twinomugisha had helped to support himself by making liquid soap and had assisted many young people in the skill.

Mother and Child Burned

In neighboring Namutumba District, 33-year-old Zafara Nagudi said she was unaware that her Muslim husband had come home when she and her daughter, 10-year-old Sharifa Nangobi, were praying in Christ’s name in their kitchen on March 25.

Residents of Namutumba Town Council, Nagudi and her daughter had put their faith in Christ at an open-air evangelistic event at Kaiti trading center, she said.

She was cooking dinner at 9 p.m. when her husband, Musobya Mujjibu, 37, found them praying, she said. Another daughter, 7, was staying at a relative’s house.

“I had put water on for preparing millet bread that was at the boiling point,” Nagudi told Morning Star News. “Suddenly I saw my husband at the door of the kitchen, and immediately we stopped praying.”

He asked her what they were doing, and she had no answer, she said. He continued asking the same question.

“I eventually told him the truth, that we were praying to Jesus Christ to help our family,” Nagudi said. “He became very furious and said, ‘I heard everything but am surprised! Are you a Christian or Muslim?’”

She said she told him that six months ago she had converted to Christianity and had been fellowshipping at a church.

“From there he slapped me and kicked me while boxing me,” Nagudi said. “Since he was in the doorway, we couldn’t run away. He grabbed the saucepan of hot water and poured it on me and the child.”

Mujjibu left the house thinking he had killed them, she said. She managed to get to her phone and call her sister in a nearby village, who soon arrived with two motorcyclists to take them to a medical clinic for medication and treatment.

Nagudi suffered lesser burns as she was wearing heavier clothing, but her daughter in lighter clothing suffered more serious burns, she said. They were discharged from the clinic on April 3 and were staying with a relative.

The attacks were the latest of many instances of persecution of Christians in Uganda that Morning Star News has documented.

If you would like to help persecuted Christians, visit https://morningstarnews.org/resources/aid-agencies/ for a list of organizations that can orient you on how to get involved.

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Breaking NewsAl-Shabab Kills Christians During Multiple Attacks in Kenya

4/10/2024 Kenya (International Christian Concern) – During the morning of Tuesday, April 9, suspected al-Shabab members killed a farmer in Bobo, Hindi, a Christian village in Kenya that the Islamic extremist group attacked in 2022.

Later that afternoon, the militants barricaded a road in the Milihoi area in Lamu County, a route between Mpeketoni and Hindi they travel often. They shot two travelers and set several vehicles on fire.

Lamu West Deputy County Commissioner Gabriel Kioni confirmed the attack and stated that only one person had died and that two people suffered minor injuries.

Security officers responded quickly to the attack and pursued the extremists but were unable to apprehend them. After additional security officers arrived, vehicles traveling through Lamu were stopped and inspected. Some travelers to Hindi and Mokowe chose to detour through Mpeketoni out of fear of further attacks.

“We spent the night awake and alert since we know that the terrorists like attacking during or at the end of the holy month of Ramadan,” an ICC staffer said.

One Christian survivor of the attack said the militants forced him to recite the Shahada, an Islamic statement of faith, to determine if he was Muslim. After he lied and claimed he did not know the Shahada well because he had recently converted to Islam, the militants released him.

Al-Shabab is known to have crossed into Kenya and made people recite the Shahada to determine if they are Muslim. Those who do not recite it are considered Christians and are often beaten or killed.

“We have mobilized our prayer cells to pray that Lamu doesn’t continue to experience this hatred by the Somalia-based terror group that has crippled church growth and the economy of the residents of Lamu,” the ICC staffer said. “We are requesting our brothers and sisters all over the world to join us in prayer against terrorism and persecution of believers in Lamu.”

ICC will continue to monitor the situation and release further information as it becomes available.

For interviews, please email press@persecution.org. 

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Family of Slain Christian in Pakistan Receives Death Threats

Farhan Ul Qamar was killed on Nov. 9, 2023. (Morning Star News courtesy of family)

LAHORE, Pakistan (Christian Daily International–Morning Star News) – Muslim relatives of the alleged killer of a 20-year-old Christian in Pakistan are threatening the victim’s family with death if they do not drop charges, sources said.

Muhammad Zubair initially confessed to killing Farhan Ul Qamar in his house in Talwandi Inayat Khan village, Pasrur tehsil of Sialkot District, Punjab Province, shooting him in the presence of the Christian’s family members on Nov. 9, 2023. He later retracted his confession in court.

The victim’s father, Noor Ul Qamar, said that on the evening of March 18, his family was busy in their routine chores when six armed Muslims led by the alleged killer’s father, Afzal Bajwa, intruded into their house and held them all at gunpoint.

“The intruders threatened us that if we do not stop pursuing the case and reach a settlement with them to free Zubair from prison, they would kill us all,” Ul Qamar told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News.

The armed Muslims were present in their house when one of Ul Qamar’s brothers, a pastor who lives in the neighborhood, called police, he said.

“God knows what would have happened to us if the police hadn’t come on time and took the intruders into custody,” Ul Qamar said. “I filed an application for the registration of a case against them, but instead the police released the men after a few hours.”

The head of the police station told him that he had let the armed Muslims off with a warning to not intimidate the family again, Ul Qamar said.

“The accused’s family has a criminal background and are also politically influential, which is perhaps why the police did not take any legal action against them,” he said.

Area residents have advised him not press charges regarding the armed break-in and death threat as it could endanger his family, he said.

“Zubair’s family started threatening me to withdraw the case a couple of months after they saw that the hype around the murder had settled down,” Ul Qamar told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News. “They first sent reconciliatory messages through different people, but when we refused, their tone became more aggressive, and they threatened to kill me if I did not surrender to their demand.”

On the night of the killing, Zubair showed hatred for Christians and Jews, mistakenly referring to the family as Jews as he ranted at them before killing Farhan Ul Qamar, family members said. Police arrested Zubair from his home a few hours later, and while in police custody he confessed to killing the Christian. He is awaiting trial in Sialkot District Jail.

Though shaken, the family is determined to pursue justice for the killer, Ul Qamar said.

“Zubair’s elder brother and a paternal cousin were gangsters and were killed in police encounters,” he added. “Zubair also has a police record and was involved in several heinous crimes before he committed my son’s murder. We know that if he is not punished in accordance with the law, no Christian family of our village will be safe from his violence.”

Among 20-25 other Christian families in the village, Ul Qamar’s family has resided in the area for generations, often facing religious bias and discrimination.

The youngest of Ul Qamar’s four children, Farhan Ul Qamar had been enrolled in a four-year medical technician program and was excited about becoming a health care professional after graduation, but all their dreams were shattered in front of their eyes, the grieving father said.

Tehmina Arora, director of advocacy in Asia of Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) International, said the crime is a reminder of the vulnerability of Christians in Pakistan.

“Mobs and individual are emboldened because, over the years, the Pakistani government has failed to ensure swift prosecution and justice for Christians who have been attacked in their homes and churches,” Arora said. “Sadly, even after 10 years of the landmark judgment of the Supreme Court directing the government to undertake measures to ensure the protection of religious minorities, little has changed on the ground.”

ADF International is supporting the impoverished family’s pursuit of justice through its allied lawyer, Lazar Allah Rakha. He expressed concern for the safety of the victim’s family.

“Who will be responsible if any member of Ul Qamar’s family is harmed by the accused party?” Rakha told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News. “Families and friends of such criminals can go to any extent to save them from the law. It’s unfortunate that not only the complainants but also their lawyers and judges hearing the cases are threatened and attacked.”

He said that Christians were particularly vulnerable in Punjab Province, where they are easily coerced into reaching settlements with suspects belonging to the Muslim majority.

“I fear that the situation may become risky for them when the trial begins, because the accused party will try their best to influence and intimidate the complainant and prosecution witnesses,” Rakha said. “It would be better for them to relocate to a safe place during this crucial time, because one cannot rely on the police for their security.”

ADF International’s Arora added that it was imperative that the Pakistani government take steps to ensure the protection of religious minorities, and that no one is targeted because of their faith.

Pakistan ranked seventh on Open Doors’ 2023 World Watch List of the most difficult places to be a Christian, up from eighth the previous year.

If you would like to help persecuted Christians, visit https://morningstarnews.org/resources/aid-agencies/ for a list of organizations that can orient you on how to get involved.

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Christian Couple in India Sentenced to Prison

Pastor Ramesh Ahirwar and wife Sakhi Ahirwar say they were falsely accused in March 11, 2024 conviction of forcible conversion in Madhya Pradesh, India. (Morning Star News)

Pastor Ramesh Ahirwar and wife Sakshi Ahirwar say they were falsely accused in March 11, 2024 conviction of forcible conversion in Madhya Pradesh, India. (Morning Star News)

NEW DELHI (Morning Star News) – A Christian couple in India has been sentenced to prison after Hindu extremists instigated a false case of forcible conversion against them, sources said.

A woman they are accused of pressuring denied in court that the Christians tried to forcibly/fraudulently convert her or her husband, but Pastor Ramesh Ahirwar and his wife Sakshi Ahirwar of Viveknagar Bhansa village near Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, were convicted under the state’s anti-conversion law on March 11. The district court sentenced them to two years in prison and a fine of 25,000 rupees (US$300) each, the pastor said.

“I am shocked at the conviction,” Pastor Ahirwar told Morning Star News. “The charges against us are baseless and utterly untrue.”

If the conviction stands, it would be the first under Madhya Pradesh’s anti-conversion law.

Pastor Ahirwar was on a trip to Delhi in October 2021 when members of the Hindu extremist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) instigated a man from the neighboring village, Abhishek Ahirwar, to accuse the couple of abducting his estranged wife and pressuring her to convert to Christianity, the church leader said. Pastor Ahirwar, who had helped arrange the marriage of the Hindu couple, said the wife returned to her parents’ home when she left her husband.

The complainant, Abhishek Ahirwar, alleged that the pastor tried to fraudulently convert him as well.

“Abhishek said that I kept his wife against her wishes, and that I am not allowing her to go back to her husband’s house – also, that I pressured her to convert and offered to construct a house for her and give her 20,000 rupees [US$240] every month in return,” Pastor Ahirwar told Morning Star News. “The mason’s son [Abhishek] said that I offered him 20,000 rupees every month if he converted to Christianity.”

Abhishek Ahirwar’s father is a mason the pastor had hired in the construction of his house church in 2021.

“I suspect that members of the RSS offered to help the mason’s son to intervene in saving his marriage and in return asked him to help them frame me in the case, so that my church is shut,” Pastor Ahirwar said.

Abhishek Ahirwar’s Hindu wife testified in court that she was neither coerced into changing her religion nor offered any monetary incentives, the pastor said. She testified that the pastor did not offer any money to her husband either, and she clarified that Pastor Ahirwar did not pressure her to refrain from returning to her husband’s house.

“There was a lot of chaos and discrepancy among the statements of the complainant, his father, their witnesses – I was very confident that after recording everybody’s statement, the court will set us free,” Pastor Ahirwar said. “But sadly, that did not happen. The court pronounced us guilty.”

The judge seemed prejudiced or under duress to convict them, a Christian leader from Madhya Pradesh told Morning Star News on condition of anonymity.

“It is not uncommon to have only adverse judgments against religious minorities in lower courts or even high courts nowadays,” the source said. “It is only in the Supreme Court and in selective cases that justice can be expected.”

Abhishek Ahirwar registered a First Information Report (FIR) against the couple and the pastor’s father-in-law, Nathuram Ahirwar, on Oct. 20, 2021.

“Abhishek narrated a completely made-up story in the FIR, stating that on Oct. 10 and 11, 2021, I allured him to convert to Christianity,” Pastor Ahirwar said.

Six months after the filing of the FIR, prosecutors produced two new witnesses from the area. They told the court that the pastor was forcing them to convert to Christianity and had offered them 20,000 rupees each. The witnesses testified that they were not there as witnesses for Abhishek Ahirwar in his case, but for themselves.

Pastor Ahirwar said that Abhishek Ahirwar did not provide accurate dates, and that his father, the mason, was not a direct witness to the allegations against the couple.

The pastor and his wife, both 41, have been ministering in Sagar since 2012 and live with their three children, ages 20, 18 and 14. Pastor Ahirwar, who has been leading the independent Prarthana Bhawan (House of Prayer) church since 2018, said the mason had requested he search for a matrimonial match for his then-bachelor son in 2021.

Pastor Ahirwar found a Hindu match for the mason’s son, and they married. Within the first few months of marriage, the groom’s family began to trouble the wife for a dowry. Weary of their demands, she returned to her parents’ home and refused to go back, the pastor said.

The husband’s family repeatedly asked Pastor Ahirwar to intervene, but he insisted they speak with the wife’s family directly, he said. The RSS then apparently found the occasion to offer to help the husband regain his wife in exchange for him framing the Christian couple, Pastor Ahirwar said.

Police summoned Pastor Ahirwar on Oct. 20, 2021, and after interrogation he left. Around 20 days later, police arrested the pastor, and the district court released him on a bail bond.

Police arrested Sakshi Ahirwar and her 75-year-old father and presented them before the district court about 10 days after Pastor Ahirwar was detained, and they were sent to jail until they obtained bail three days later.

Pastor Ahirwar, his wife and father-in-law attended court proceedings every month for more than two years.

“All three of us had to be present in the courtroom, sometimes once a month and other times twice a month,” Pastor Ahirwar said.

In the March 11 verdict, the court acquitted Nathuram Ahirwar for lack of evidence but convicted the couple, Pastor Ahirwar said.

The Christian couple’s attorney filed a bail application the same day of the verdict, which was subsequently granted, allowing them to remain free until April 12.

An appeal challenging the verdict was filed in the High Court on March 22, and Pastor Ahirwar’s case was registered with the High Court on Monday (April 1), he said. The next hearing is scheduled for Friday (April 5).

“I had no finances to appeal in the High Court,” the pastor said. “I had to arrange for 50,000 rupees [US$600] before I could appeal. It seemed impossible to arrange, with my current situation, until someone whom I don’t want to name offered to help me with the fees and arrange for an attorney for me.”

He has been unable to lead his house church since the March 11 verdict, he said.

“The right-wing mob has been eyeing me,” he said. “They came to my house in my absence with sticks and threatened my family of dire consequences if I held the church worship services.”

Since the court’s judgment on March 11, Hindu nationalist have been circulating messages against Pastor Ahirwar and his family daily.

“They are bringing up my matter on social media and newspapers to create pressure on the judiciary and to turn the villagers against me,” he said.

Though encouraged by Scripture, the couple fear their children will be left alone. The family has no source of income.

“I am not discouraged, because whatever is happening to us is according to the Bible,” the pastor said. “But, when we look at the children, we fear what will happen to them when we are sent to jail.”

He also worries about his wife, who has medical conditions.

“My wife has health issues, and I fear how will she manage in the jail,” Pastor Ahirwar said. “We do fear the uncertainties of the future but choose to trust God.”

If you would like to help persecuted Christians, visit https://morningstarnews.org/resources/aid-agencies/ for a list of organizations that can orient you on how to get involved.

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Al Shabaab Suspected in Killing of Six Christians in Somalia

Mosque of Islamic Solidarity in Mogadishu, Somalia. (Hiram A. Ruiz, Creative Commons)

NAIROBI, Kenya (Morning Star News) – Six Kenyan merchants killed by suspected militants from the Islamic extremist Al Shabaab on Friday (March 29) in the Somali border town of Dhobley were likely attacked for spreading Christianity, sources said.

The six secret Christians had been selling plastic utensils and other household goods in Dhobley, in Somalia’s Lower Juba Region, for six years, a Christian leader in northern Kenya said.

“Our brothers had been doing business to support their families, but also sharing the love of Jesus Christ to the Muslims in Dhobley,” the leader told Morning Star News on condition of anonymity. “Two members of our church recently reported that several Muslims were secretly attending the evening prayers. This is probably what could have caused the Al Shabaab to kill them for spreading Christianity in the area.”

He identified the slain Christians as Joseph Githonga and Simon Karimi of the East Africa Pentecostal Church, Peter Muthuri and Thomas Muthee of the Kenya Assemblies of God and James Mwendwa and John Kathure of the Anglican Church.

The late Githonga had told the Christian leader in February that area converts from Islam had grown concerned over local complaints that the six Christians were praying in Christ’s name with Muslim neighbors and worshipping too loudly.

“My advice to them was to avoid singing and prayers but only to have Bible study so as to safeguard the Muslim Background Believers and themselves,” he said.

The assailants attacked the six men at their rented property, which included the shops from which they sold their wares and a back section as living quarters, the Christian leader said. They were shot to death at close range, he said.

In Kenya, Liboi Deputy County Commissioner Ali Manduku reportedly confirmed that six Kenyans were killed by suspected Al Shabaab militants.

A survivor of the attack reportedly said a Toyota Probux showed up near the traders’ shops around 7 a.m., and four hooded men began shooting, killing four merchants immediately, with two dying later. The assailants also set their shops ablaze.

The bodies of the slain Christians were taken to a mortuary in Garissa County, Kenya, the Christian leader said.

Somalia is ranked 2^nd on Christian support group Open Doors’ 2024 World Watch List of the 50 countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian.

Somalia’s constitution establishes Islam as the state religion and prohibits the propagation of any other religion, according to the U.S. State Department. It also requires that laws comply with sharia (Islamic law) principles, with no exceptions in application for non-Muslims.

Al Shabaab, which is allied with Al Qaeda, or Al Shabaab sympathizers also have killed several non-local people in northern Kenya since 2011, when Kenyan forces led an African coalition into Somalia against the rebels in response to terrorist attacks on tourists and others on Kenya’s coast.

On April 2, 2015, 148 people at Garissa University College lost their lives in an attack by Al Shabaab, and several attacks on churches and Christians have taken place in Garissa, also in northern Kenya.

If you would like to help persecuted Christians, visit https://morningstarnews.org/resources/aid-agencies/ for a list of organizations that can orient you on how to get involved.

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Herdsmen Kill Seven Christians in Central Nigeria

National Mosque in Abuja, Nigeria. (Creative Commons)

ABUJA, Nigeria (Christian Daily International–Morning Star News) – Fulani herdsmen accompanied by other terrorists on March 19 and 20 killed seven Christians in attacks on villages in central Nigeria, sources said.

In Benue state’s Logo County, the assailants slaughtered seven Christians in the Yongia Ukambie Tiev and Ukembrergya-Tswarev communities, said the Rev. Jonathan Adagbe, chairman of the Logo Local Government Council.

“The attacks were carried out by the herdsmen who were accompanied by a group of terrorists,” Pastor Adagbe told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News. “These herdsmen act brazenly and attack Christians at will and with impunity. No one dares challenge their terrorist acts; not even the military or other security agents are able to curtail their activities against Christian communities.”

The pastor said he visited the areas for assessment in order to file reports with the Benue state government and saw armed, Muslim Fulani herdsmen still moving freely in the communities they had attacked.

Community leader Joseph Anawah said the terrorists attacked without any resistance from Nigeria’s military or security agents.

“The herdsmen, whom we believe are working alongside terrorists, attacked our villages for two days, beginning on Tuesday, 19 March,” Anawah told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News in a text message. “The terrorists started attacking our villages at about 4 p.m. and continued on Wednesday, 20 March. So far, we know that seven Christians were killed during the invasion on our villages.”

Nigeria remained the deadliest place in the world to follow Christ, with 4,118 people killed for their faith from Oct. 1, 2022 to Sept. 30, 2023, according to Open Doors’ 2024 World Watch List (WWL) report. More kidnappings of Christians than in any other country also took place in Nigeria, with 3,300.

Nigeria was also the third highest country in number of attacks on churches and other Christian buildings such as hospitals, schools, and cemeteries, with 750, according to the report.

In the 2024 WWL of the countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian, Nigeria was ranked No. 6, as it was in the previous year.

Numbering in the millions across Nigeria and the Sahel, predominantly Muslim Fulani comprise hundreds of clans of many different lineages who do not hold extremist views, but some Fulani do adhere to radical Islamist ideology, the United Kingdom’s All-Party Parliamentary Group for International Freedom or Belief (APPG) noted in a 2020 report.

“They adopt a comparable strategy to Boko Haram and ISWAP and demonstrate a clear intent to target Christians and potent symbols of Christian identity,” the APPG report states.

Christian leaders in Nigeria have said they believe herdsmen attacks on Christian communities in Nigeria’s Middle Belt are inspired by their desire to forcefully take over Christians’ lands and impose Islam as desertification has made it difficult for them to sustain their herds.

If you would like to help persecuted Christians, visit https://morningstarnews.org/resources/aid-agencies/ for a list of organizations that can orient you on how to get involved.

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Kidnapper Wins Custody of 13-Year-Old Girl, Sources Say

Muazzam Mazhar kidnapped Roshni Shaqeel on March 13, 2024 in Basti Khaliq Pura, Pakistan, the girl’s parents say. (Christian Daily International-Morning Star News)

LAHORE, Pakistan (Christian Daily International–Morning Star News) – A high court in Pakistan on Monday (March 25) rejected a Christian woman’s attempt to recover her 13-year-old daughter, instead allowing the child to go with a Muslim who abducted, forcibly converted her to Islam and married her, sources said.

Shakeel Masih’s daughter, Roshni Shakeel, was taken from her home in Basti Khaliq Pura in Multan District, Punjab Province, on March 13 by a 28-year-old Muslim, Muazzam Mazhar, when Masih and his wife were out of the house for work.

Masih’s wife, Nazia Shakeel, on March 18 filed a habeas corpus petition in the Lahore High Court (LHC) for the recovery of their daughter after the family was unable to find her.

On Monday (March 25), Sital Mari police presented Roshni and Mazhar in the court of Justice Ali Zia Bajwa of the Multan Bench of the LHC.

“My wife and I were hoping that the judge would consider it a clear case of child marriage and order action against the accused, but we were utterly disappointed when he completely ignored our pleas for justice,” Masih told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News.

Masih said the judge set aside case documents without even looking at them and posed only one question to Roshni: Had she married Muazzam with her own free will?

“When Roshni said that she had done so willingly and wanted to go with Muazzam, the judge congratulated her on the marriage and said she was free to live with her husband,” Masih said. “My wife and I pleaded the judge to at least consider her age and the fact that the child was under the influence of the accused for over two weeks, and she could have been easily coerced into giving that statement. Instead of listening to us and our lawyer, the judge hushed us with a hand gesture and announced his decision.”

The impoverished Christian, a cleaner at a local restaurant, has sold household items, including mobile phones and his brother’s motorcycle, to fund efforts to recover his daughter and in a desperate quest for justice.

“All my efforts have gone in vain, because the court did not even bother to inspect her official birth document and other evidence,” Masih said. “Our lawyer argued that Roshni was visibly underage and the matter should be dealt as a child marriage, but the judge did not listen to him as well.”

Authorities did not give Masih or his wife a chance to meet with Roshni and ask her about her wellbeing, he said.

“In fact, the police and family members of the accused blocked her view during the entire time she was in the courtroom. They then took her away in front of our eyes, and there was nothing I could do to stop them,” Masih said as grief and frustration overtook his voice.

Despite the setback, Masih said he was determined to make every possible legal effort to bring his daughter home.

“Roshni is just a child, how can I let that criminal exploit her and then God forbid, sell her into slavery? I will not stop till I rescue my daughter,” he said.

His Muslim attorney, Muhammad Umar Ashraf, said he was confident that the court would notice the physical condition of Roshni and treat it as a case of child marriage without question.

“However, I too was dismayed when the judge flatly refused to admit my arguments and inspect the documents,” Ashraf told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News. “It looked as if he was in no mood to rule in our favor.”

The attorney said that when he pointed out the child’s age before the judge, he told him to take the matter to the family court or file an intra-court appeal against his decision.

“I’m ready to move both forums in light of a recent decision by Justice Anwar Ul Haq Pannun of the LHC Multan Bench, wherein the court has ordered the government to strictly implement the anti-child marriage laws,” he said.

In a landmark interim order issued by Justice Pannun on Feb. 28, the court ordered authorities to implement the anti-child marriage laws in letter and spirit. The court was hearing a petition filed by a Muslim woman, Ramzana Bibi, seeking the custody of a niece who had fallen victim to child marriage.

The court also established a high-level committee headed by Prosecutor General of Punjab Syed Farhad Ali Shah to ensure effective implementation of child marriage restraint laws. It also ordered chairmen of union councils to promptly annul any underage marriages, with the court mandating strict legal actions against such unions.

Pannun’s order also instructed the assistant director of local government to conduct monthly reviews of union council records at the local tehsil level, emphasizing the critical role of local government in the complex challenge.

Expressing disappointment over the court’s order, Netherlands-based rights activist Joseph Janssen said that he will support the Masih family in their struggle for justice.

“I find it very absurd that courts in Pakistan continue to endorse child marriages, especially when the girls belong to the minority communities,” Janssen said. “In such cases, the courts readily admit the girl’s statement regarding her age without even thinking that the child could have been forced to lie under pressure.”

Kidnapped girls in Pakistan are routinely pressured to make statements in favor of their abductors with threats of severe harm to their family or themselves, rights advocates say.

Janssen added that Pakistan needed to consider child marriages as a national issue.

“Increasing the minimum marriageable age to 18 years in Punjab to bring it at par with the other three provinces can also be an effective deterrent against forced conversions and forced marriages of minority girls,” he said.

Bishop Leo Roderick Paul of the Multan Diocese of the Church of Pakistan supported the idea of increasing the minimum marriageable age in Punjab Province.

“Child marriages are rampant in Punjab,” Paul said. “Several cases involving Christian girls often go unreported due to the weak family backgrounds of the victims. I believe that raising the minimum age for marriage can help in bringing some safeguard against this crime.”

He also stressed the need for rigorous awareness campaigns in the Christian community to educate the members, especially minor girls.

“It is very important to build a strong spiritual foundation in our children so that they are not easily enticed by the perpetrators,” he said.

Pakistan ranked seventh on Open Doors’ 2024 World Watch List of the most difficult places to be a Christian, as it was the previous year.

If you would like to help persecuted Christians, visit https://morningstarnews.org/resources/aid-agencies/ for a list of organizations that can orient you on how to get involved.

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Persecution of Christians Escalates in India, EFI Reports

Church in Dandi, Gujarat state, India. (Morning Star News)

NEW DELHI (Morning Star News) – India’s Christians suffered an alarming escalation of violence, hatred and systematic oppression last year, according to the Religious Liberty Commission of the Evangelical Fellowship of India (EFI-RLC).

The 601 cases of persecution against Christians in India in 2023 marked a 45 percent increase over the 413 instances recorded the previous year, according to EFI-RLC’s annual report.

While no area of India was unaffected, several emerged as hotspots. Uttar Pradesh state remained the most hostile environment with 275 incidents, up from 147 the previous year. Chhattisgarh saw 132 cases, actually a decrease from the previous year’s 141, while Haryana had 44 incidents, up from 22 the prior year.

“The rapidly deteriorating situation for religious minorities is a matter of grave concern,” EFI General Secretary Rev. Vijayesh Lal told Morning Star News. “Christians, especially pastors in rural areas, faced assaults, disrupted prayers and damaged places of worship throughout the past year.”

The grim findings come atop data from the United Christian Forum (UCF) showing persecution has continued unabated into 2024. The UCF documented an additional 161 incidents of violence against Christians from Jan. 1 to March 15, including 70 cases in January, 62 in February and 29 in just the first half of March.

Christians in 19 states across India have faced “threats to life” for practicing their faith during the first three months of 2024, the UCF noted. It identified Chhattisgarh as an extreme hotspot, with 47 of the 161 recent incidents, the highest of any state. Uttar Pradesh followed with 36 cases.

The UCF also shed light on what it called “state-sponsored targeting” of Christians, condemning the alleged practice of filing false accusations of illegal conversions – “forcible” or “fraudulent” – against pastors attending routine gatherings like birthday parties. It recorded more than 30 such cases of pastors arrested or detained under Uttar Pradesh’s controversial anti-conversion laws in just the first few months of this year.

The UCF reported 122 Christians have been arrested or had cases filed against them based on allegations of “forced conversions” across various states since Jan. 1. The report stated that these “fabricated cases” were aimed at persecuting the Christian minority.

The 2023 EFI-RLC report documented similar widespread arrests, with an “unprecedented” 440 pastors and church members detained in Uttar Pradesh last year, predominantly over baseless accusations of forced religious conversions.

The EFI-RLC report, however, cautioned that its data likely only “scratches the surface” due to widespread underreporting fueled by fears of reprisals and police apathy toward cases involving religious minorities.

Vulnerable groups including Dalits, tribal Adivasis and Christian women faced intense threats from the intersecting pressures of religious persecution and pre-existing societal discrimination, the report said. It documented chilling examples of tribal Christians being denied burials according to their rituals and threatened with forcible cremations as a means of “returning them to Hinduism.”

Several cases of severe physical violence were highlighted as well, such as pastors being beaten with iron rods and mob attacks on worship services. In one horrific case in Jharkhand, armed extremists disrupted a church meeting, assaulted two women and encouraged others to sexually assault them.

The rise in persecution coincides with ongoing legislative efforts to pass controversial Uniform Civil Code laws in several states ruled by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Christian leaders have warned this could effectively dismantle longstanding constitutional protections and affirmative action policies for religious minorities.

Christian advocacy groups argue much of the recent violence is fueled by the reemergence of extremist Hindu nationalist ideology (Hindutva) that has enjoyed a resurgence since the BJP’s rise to power under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Drawing support from fringe groups, Hindu nationalist hardliners have lobbied for sweeping “anti-conversion” laws across states by falsely accusing Christians and Muslims of proselytizing with allurements and engaging in forced conversions.

“The false narrative of forced conversion is being repeatedly exploited to justify horrific crimes of violence, intimidation and harassment against our community,” Lal said, saying Hindu nationalist elements use the issue as a “convenient pretext to unleash targeted aggression.”

The findings highlight grave concerns over rising intolerance towards India’s estimated 28 million Christians, about 2 percent of India’s 1.4 billion people, as the country prepares for general elections in 2024.

With elections looming April 9 through June 4 and the BJP seeking a third term, Christian leaders and human rights advocates have raised urgent alarms over the deteriorating conditions for religious minorities. They warn unchecked persecution threatens to not only stain India’s international standing but undermine the nation’s founding secular and pluralistic principles.

India ranked 11th on Christian support organization Open Doors’ 2024 World Watch List of the countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian. The country was 31st in 2013, but its position worsened after Modi came to power.

The hostile tone of the National Democratic Alliance government, led by the Hindu nationalist BJP, against non-Hindus, has emboldened Hindu extremists in several parts of the country to attack Christians since Modi took power in May 2014, religious rights advocates say.

If you would like to help persecuted Christians, visit https://morningstarnews.org/resources/aid-agencies/ for a list of organizations that can orient you on how to get involved.

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Pastor, His Family and Other Christians Killed in Nigeria

The Rev. Jacob Abah was slain near Maraba in Taraba state, Nigeria on March 13, 2024. (Philip Tule for Christian Daily International-Morning Star News)

The Rev. Abah Jacob was slain near Maraba in Taraba state, Nigeria on March 13, 2024. (Philip Tule for Christian Daily International-Morning Star News)

ABUJA, Nigeria (Christian Daily International–Morning Star News) – Terrorists on March 13 ambushed and killed an African Church pastor, his wife and son along with several other Christians on a highway in Taraba state, northeastern Nigeria, sources said.

The Rev. Abah Jacob, wife Marian Abah and their son were slain with the other Christians near Mararaba on the highway between Gankwe and Mararaba in Donga County, a group of pastors said at a press conference in Jalingo on Saturday (March 23).

Pastor Jacob led the African Church of Kyado Archdeaconry at Adi Parish in Bali Local Government Area of Taraba state, the Rev. Nathaniel Saawua said at the press conference. He said dozens of other Christians were wounded in the attack and were treated at various hospitals.

“But since the gruesome murder, it appears to us that nobody is bothered, because not one family member of the victims has been contacted by the authorities, and no official visitation to the families by any government official from Bali or Donga local government councils,” Pastor Saawua said.

Among those who were wounded but escaped, some have no finances to sustain their hospital stays, he said.

“One person has so far died in the hospital, and some of them have little or nothing to foot the bills of the treatments they are receiving,” Pastor Saawua said. “While we draw the attention of the authorities concerned to this pathetic and unfortunate situation, we want to call on spirited individuals who are touched by this incident to come to the aid of these victims and the bereaved by providing succor to them to alleviate some of their physical and emotional pains.”

The pastors called for investigation into the killing of these Christians.

Church member Apeife Malachi Aondofa said Pastor Jacob and his wife and child “were killed in cold blood while they were on pastoral visit to the church’s mission field at Adi parish in the Gazabu area of Bali Local Government Area. The pastor and other Christians traveling alongside them were killed at Maraba town.”

Other church members who sent text messages to Christian Daily International-Morning Star News prior to the press conference also described the assailants as “terrorists” or “Fulani terrorists.”

Taraba Gov. Agbu Kefas directed police and other security agencies to investigate.

Nigeria was also the third highest country in number of attacks on churches and other Christian buildings such as hospitals, schools, and cemeteries, with 750, according to the report.

In the 2024 WWL of the countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian, Nigeria was ranked No. 6, as it was in the previous year.

“They adopt a comparable strategy to Boko Haram and ISWAP and demonstrate a clear intent to target Christians and potent symbols of Christian identity,” the APPG report states.

If you would like to help persecuted Christians, visit https://morningstarnews.org/resources/aid-agencies/ for a list of organizations that can orient you on how to get involved.

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