A Child's Conversion Compels Father to Torture and Sequester Her

BWERA, Uganda, January 16 (Compass Direct News) – A 15-year-old Christian girl in western Uganda who lost the use of her legs after her father locked her in a room for six months for leaving Islam has begun to take tentative steps. Susan Ithungu of Isango village, Kasese district, had been hospitalized since September 2010 after neighbors along with police rescued her from her father, Beya Baluku, who had given her hardly any food or water. He was arrested shortly afterward but quickly released. She and her younger brother, Mbusa Baluku, lived alone with their father, who was divorced from their mother. Susan Ithungu Susan Ithungu © Compass Direct News In March 2010, Susan had trusted Christ for her salvation – prompting her father to threaten to slaughter her publicly with a knife. Pastor Joseph Baluku of Bwera Full Gospel Church in Kasese said neighbors who discovered that the girl was locked in a room with almost no food or water notified authorities. After her release, they took her to a hospital on Sept. 6, 2010. She would not be discharged from hospital care until Oct. 19, 2011.

Religion News Blog It's amazing to see people so inundated by religious values that they would treat their child in such a way. The depths to which this allegiance to religious ideals reaches can conquer even the desire of a parent to care for a child. I can't imagine what it must feel like to have that level of faith in one's beliefs. I don't think I could ever have that kind of certainty...