A Christian woman from Uganda's Kibuku District reportedly survived the attack of her own Muslim brother on August 8 for embracing Christ.
The Christian Headlines said that Harriet Nanzala, who resides in a village near Kibuku District's Kasasira, kept her Christian faith hidden for two decades for security reasons until her brother, Kowa Mugooda, became suspicious about it. Nanzala said in an interview with Morning Star News that her brother caught her reading the Bible on August 6 and left.
"My brother found me reading the Bible and began questioning me, whether I had converted to Christianity. I kept quiet, and he left, shaking his head in disbelief," Nanzala disclosed.
Nanzala, who is a mother of two, narrated that her brother then pressured her for two days to admit her Christian faith but she refused to respond by keeping silent. Nanzala converted into Christianity more than two decades ago before she left her husband who was a Muslim. She currently lives with her mother, who she cares for being an elderly, as well as her daughters.
Nanzala said her brother eventually returned with a long spear and a knife while shouting the Jihad slogan at 10 a.m. of August 8. She said she started running when her brother began destroying her door. She was eventually struck in the leg by his knife.
"Allahu Akbar (Allah is Greater)!" Nanzala quoted Mugooda in saying.
"He began destroying part of the door. I started running away to save my life. My brother followed me as I continued shouting for help, but unfortunately he hit me with the sharp knife on my leg," she added.
After that, Nanzala said neighbors came with the area chairperson to help her and bring in the police. She was rescued by Officer Afande Hire who responded quickly to the call for police assistance and took her brother away, who then threatened to kill her once he is free. Mugooda was said to have been charged with threatening violence by the police.
"After my release, I will kill Harriet for renouncing Islam, the religion of Allah," Hire quoted Mugooda in stating while he was being taken away.
Nanzala was reported to have suffered a deep wound on her ankle because of the attack. She disclosed that she is afraid of her brother's retaliation and asked for prayers.
"We are now living in great fear of attack if my brother is released on bail. We need prayer," Nanzala revealed.
Reports of Christians being attacked by Muslim extremists in Uganda are not new. In December, a Pastor, Wilson Niwamanya, and his son, Simon Peter Bizimaana, died of stab wounds on their way to Kabale. The father and son were said to have been attacked by four Muslim extremists.
This was followed in January when a 45-year-old Christian convert, Mansitula Buliro, was attacked by her own Muslim husband, who divorced her and asked her to leave their house. Buliro survived the attack but suffered a miscarriage.
Two attacks were reported in June by the Muslim extremists, one to a Christian employee being asked to convert to Islam to secure his employment and another by a Christian Pastor. While a Christian convert was attacked by his family while listening to Gospel music last month.
Morning Star News pointed out that the attacks against Christians occur despite Uganda's constitution allowing religious freedom and despite Muslims comprising only 12% of the country's entire population.
