This is horrific.
In eastern Uganda, a 19-year-old woman named Naasike Maliyati was burned with a flat iron by her Muslim father on July 21 after he discovered her conversion to Christianity. Maliyati, from Nampologoma in Butaleja District, shared that she attended an evangelistic event in Mbale District with a friend on July 15, where she decided to commit her life to Jesus Christ. Upon returning home, she confided in her sister about her newfound faith, who then informed their father.
Maliyati, a student at Noor Islamic Institute in Mbale, went to a church service the following Sunday. When she returned home, her father, Abdulrahim Kutosi, along with her uncles, were enraged. They restrained her, beat her, and her father burned her with a hot flat iron and scalding water, accusing her of bringing shame to the family and displeasing Allah by converting to Christianity.
After the assault, her relatives put her on a motorbike and abandoned her near the Namatala River. A Christian motorcyclist named Nicolas Ndobooli discovered her crying for help and took her to a clinic, where he paid 30,000 Uganda shillings (approximately $8 USD) for her medical care.
Local Christian communities have strongly condemned the violence Maliyati endured from her father. This incident highlights a larger pattern of persecution against Christians in Uganda, as reported by Morning Star News. Although Uganda’s constitution and laws guarantee religious freedom, including the right to convert to different faiths, Muslims constitute less than 12% of the population, with higher concentrations in the eastern regions.