Muslims in eastern Uganda beat an evangelist on Friday (Sept. 20), leaving him hospitalized with head injuries and a broken hand, sources said. Robertson Eriot, 41, and fellow evangelist Kefa Mukisa were visiting homes outside of Busia town, seat of the district of the same name, and stopped at the home of an Islamic leader identified as Sheikh Kalimu on the Busia-Kampala road at about 4:30 p.m., Mukisa said. After they requested permission to enter the homestead, the watchman opened the gate and let them in, and they began sharing the gospel with him, Mukisa said.

A 16-year-old Christian girl in Pakistan was forced to convert to Islam and marry a Muslim after he and two accomplices kidnapped her this month, her parents said. Shahida Iftikhar and her husband Iftikhar Joseph were attending a wedding when their daughter, Diya Iftikhar, was abducted from their home in village Chak No. 126-GB Sheroana in Jaranwala, Faisalabad District, Punjab Province by Ghazaal Jutt, Afzal Jutt and Ramzan Jutt on Sept. 12, Shahida Iftikhar said. Neighbors saw the gun-wielding suspects bundling Diya into a white Suzuki van and fleeing the scene, she said.

Fulani herdsmen in central Nigeria killed two Christians on Thursday and three others at church services the prior Sunday, when they also kidnapped a pastor and 30 congregation members, sources said. A band of armed herdsmen on Thursday (Sept. 19) attacked Kurmin-Kare village, a predominantly Christian community in Kachia County in southern Kaduna state, killing two Christians identified as Audu Bala and Jonathan Moses, said area resident Solomon Sanga.

A Christian mother of four children on Wednesday (Sept. 18) received the death sentence after a judge convicted her under Pakistan’s blasphemy laws, her attorney said. Shagufta Kiran, 40, was convicted under Section 295-C of Pakistan’s widely condemned blasphemy laws for insulting Muhammad, the prophet of Islam, which carries a mandatory death sentence. Attorney Rana Abdul Hameed said Additional Session Judge Islamabad Muhammad Afzal Majoka also sentenced Kiran to a fine of 300,000 rupees ($1,077 USD) after her three-year trial.

At least 50 Christians were slain in the attack on the predominantly Christian village in Ukum County, Benue state. Suspected Islamist killed over 50 Christians in Ayati village, area resident Tivta Samuel, told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News.

A Muslim mob in Pakistan on Wednesday (Aug. 7) attacked and tried to kill a Christian mother accused of blasphemy, sources said. The mob in Kathore village, in Gojra tehsil of Faisalabad District, Punjab Province tried to kill Saima Masih, a 32-year-old mother of two children, after Muhammad Haider accused her of hurting Islamic religious sentiments by desecrating pages of the Quran, said attorney Akmal Bhatti, chairman of the Minorities Alliance Pakistan.

A high court in Pakistan on Monday (March 25) rejected a Christian woman’s attempt to recover her 13-year-old daughter, instead allowing the child to go with a Muslim who abducted, forcibly converted her to Islam and married her, sources said.

Terrorists on March 13 ambushed and killed an African Church pastor, his wife and son along with several other Christians on a highway in Taraba state, northeastern Nigeria, sources said.
The Rev. Abah Jacob, wife Marian Abah and their son were slain with the other Christians near Mararaba on the highway between Gankwe and Mararaba in Donga County, a group of pastors said at a press conference in Jalingo.