In Chains: Christian Persecution - 2019, Issue 1

Beaten & Arrested
Reprinted with permission: Morning Star News
Muslim policemen on Saturday (Jan. 19) beat
and arrested a Christian man on the
outskirts of Nairobi, Kenya in retaliation for
refusing to recant Christianity, sources said.
am better dying with my family than going
back to Islam.”
Accompanied by two Muslims of Somali
descent who had attacked him previously,
the policemen arrived at the home where
Hassan (surname withheld for security
reasons) lives with his widowed mother, and
the ofYicers along with the two others
punched, kicked, trampled and struck him
with blunt objects, relatives said.
“The police arrived and carried Hassan away
with blood Ylowing from his body,” his
mother told Morning Star News, adding that
one of the ofYicers was a Muslim relative of
Somali descent who has habitually joined
other Somali Muslims resident in Nairobi in
attacking her son. In Saturday’s attack,
Hassan lost teeth and suffered leg, chest and
back injuries, she said.
Initially police took him to Ngong police
station, where his mother’s pleas compelled
them to take him to a medical clinic for
treatment. The next day they transferred
him to a police jail in Nairobi’s Industrial
Area. His mother visited him there on
Wednesday (Jan. 23) and said he was in bad
condition.
“My son’s leg is bruised, he has serious chest
and back pain, he is unable to walk and some
of his teeth were removed,” she said. “My
family is in danger, where are we going to
hide ourselves? I cannot go back to Islam. I
At this writing, Morning Star News was
unable to reach a police representative about
the brutal arrest or what charges Hassan
might face. When his mother asked police
why he was being held without charges on
Thursday (Jan. 24), an ofYicer directed her to
the Muslim relative who was one of the
policemen attacking Hassan. Suspecting the
relative was going to demand a bribe, she
said she would not talk with him.
The assailants planned the attack, which
took place outside Hassan's home in the
Bulbul area of Ngong, 26 kilometers (16
miles) southwest of Nairobi, after he and
other relatives declined to renounce their
faith in exchange for Yinancial help, she said.
The formerly Muslim family migrated from
Somalia after Hassan’s father died.