Two children of slain Mariam Nakirya. (Photo altered for security reasons.)
Photo: Morning Star News
Early in the morning of May 8th, 34-year-old Awali Kakaire killed his wife, Mariam Nakirya, for embracing Christianity. The mother of five was only 30 years old. Awali began to suspect his wife was a Christian a month prior to the incident, after the local imam questioned him as to why his wife and children had not been attending mosque prayers, and the reason his children had not been attending the Islamic school. As Awali frequently travelled for business, sometimes for the duration of a month at a time, the rest of the family was able to attend church on Sundays.
On May 8th, after his Islamic cleansing ritual, Awali instructed his wife to join him for morning Islamic prayers. "Our mother refused, and our father started strangling her as she cried for help," one son recalls. Awali left the house after killing her, returning two hours later. He then forced his five children, ages 5 to 12, into a hole that he had dug in a nearby garden.
"We resisted and began screaming," the son further explains. "Neighbours arrived immediately, but he had already dumped us into the hole he had dug," Police arrived at the scene equipped with tear gas, guns and batons in case there were added ramifications while dealing with the gathered crowd.
Mariam had come to Christ in August of 2015, after a series of visits from a door-to-door evangelist. Two of her children are now staying with their grandmother, and three with their uncle. "The children are still traumatized and crying for their mother," adds the concerned 80-year-old grandmother.
Let us join together in prayer for these five traumatized children who are suffering the tragic loss of their mother. May our Lord Jesus, whom they have come to know while attending church, fill their hearts with great peace, comfort and hope. May these young ones continue in the footsteps of their mother who faithfully followed Him until the very end. Also intercede for their father in hopes that he, too, will discover God's forgiveness and salvation, in addition to the peace that comes when personally acknowledging His Son Jesus as Saviour.
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