Tags

Martyrdom

• Woman Killed for Refusing to Convert to Islam

  

  A Christian widow and mother of three was abducted, raped, murdered, and doused with acid after she refused to convert to Islam and marry one of her abductors. Shazia Imran worked at LUMS University in Lahore, Pakistan. On June 6th, at the end of her work shift, she failed to return home. Worried family members searched throughout the night for her and, the next day, they filed a police report. The police contacted the family that same day to notify them that a body was found in the morning. The family was able to identify the body as their missing loved one.

• Hundreds Killed Amid Ongoing Violence

  

  Nigeria is considered one of the most dangerous places on earth to be a Christian because of ongoing violence from terrorist groups such as Boko Haram and Fulani militants. Having been a problem primarily in the northern and central areas of the country, persecution has also recently begun infiltrating into the southern region. Two areas where violence has been particularly rampant are Benue State and Plateau State. Since mid-May, hundreds of innocent villagers were killed and tens of thousands displaced, mainly due to Fulani attacks.

• Christian Woman Slain by Husband

  

  After hearing the "Good News" of the Gospel about a month ago from missionaries visiting her local village, Nga, a 42-year-old Vietnamese woman, turned in faith to Christ. She was the first in her village to respond to God's message of salvation, which had been presented to her by the evangelizing Christians. However, unlike Nga, her husband Vu was not open to hearing the missionaries' message.

• Father of Kidnapped Child Murdered

  

  On March 30th, the Persecution & Prayer Alert reported on a 12-year-old girl who had been kidnapped and, after being recovered, was placed in a women's shelter rather than being returned to her father. Young Hoorab Masih had been abducted by two local shopkeepers in December and then forced to convert to Islam and marry one of her kidnappers. For more details on the incident, see this page.

• Total of 33 Killed in Kaduna State

  

  Late in the night of April 15th, more than 200 gunmen entered the village of Runji in Kaduna State, Nigeria. By the time they withdrew from the area an hour later, 33 villagers had been killed, at least six others were left injured, and more than 40 houses had been torched. Almost half of those killed during the attack were children.

• Two Nigerian States Face a Spate of Violent Attacks

  

  Recent attacks by militants in Nigeria have resulted in dozens of deaths, along with kidnappings and the destruction of homes. Many Christians were targeted in these repeated violent attacks, often the result of their perpetrators' strict adherence to militant Islamic ideology. For more details on the suffering of Christians in Nigeria, go to our country report.

• Christian Farmers Killed in Two Separate Attacks

  

  Muhammad Waseem, a Muslim landowner in Punjab's Khanewal district, assaulted and killed a Christian farm labourer on February 6th after accusing the believer of stealing oranges from his property. The victim, Emmanuel Masih, was irrigating the orchard at around 3 a.m. when he was approached by Muhammad and four other men. Though Emmanuel pled his innocence, the five men brutally beat the married father of six to death.

• Fatal Church Bombing

  

  On January 15th, a joint baptismal service was held in the town of Kasindi, which is located in eastern DR Congo. During the service, two men apparently entered the building and left a bag containing explosives before vacating the church premises. The resulting explosion killed at least 14 people and injured dozens of others. As the local hospital was quickly filled with wounded church members, some of the victims had to be transported by United Nations helicopters to the provincial capital of Goma.

• Fatalities During the Christmas Season

  

  As a local church was about to begin their service on Christmas Day in Angwan Aku, Kaduna, Fulani militants entered the village on motorcycles. Shooting sporadically, one Christian was killed. Before leaving, the attackers also kidnapped 53 other villagers.

• Pastor Tortured and Killed

  

  On October 23rd, an evangelical pastor in Laos was found murdered after he had been kidnapped and badly beaten. His body was discovered near his motorbike in a forested area outside Donkeo village in Khammouane province.
  
  According to an eyewitness, three men in a black truck had seized Sy Seng Manee a few days earlier. At the time, the bystander thought the men were capturing a criminal, and so he did not intervene – only to realize later that he had instead witnessed the pastor's kidnapping.