Christian Persecution Jan/Feb 2022
Christian Boy, 14, Dies After Burn Attack
A 14-year-old Christian in eastern India clung to life for six weeks before succumbing to severe injuries after suspected Hindu extremists threw flammable liquid on him and set him on fire.
Three unidentified men on a motorbike threw the liquid on Nitish Kumar as he was coming home from his early morning routine of purchasing fresh vegetables. Drenched, Nitish initially thought they had mischievously thrown water on him.
“But soon my skin began to burn,” Nitish said. He told morningstarnews.org in agony, “The burning sensation increased with every passing second. I dropped the basket and ran towards my house [almost half a mile away] screaming and howling.” The fire burned 65 percent of his body, with 15 percent deep burns. He died in September.
His family has faced opposition from Hindu extremists since they left Hinduism for Christianity two years ago. “A month before the attack, some extremists spread word in the village that they would expel all the people who follow the Christian faith,” Nitish’s 17-year-old brother, Sanjeet, said. “We also heard about it, but it did not deter us from our faith. And suddenly this attack took place.”
Muslim Gunmen Wound At Least Four Christians
Muslims in Lahore, Pakistan, fired high-powered weapons into the homes of Christians, wounding a pregnant woman and at least three others.
“When I was telling my kids to get inside, I saw a group of heavily armed men firing indiscriminately at a church located on the street,” Asif Masih told morningstarnews.org. “They then trained their weapons on the homes of neighboring Christians and fired volleys of bullets at them.” He was wounded in both thighs.
“I barely managed to drag myself into my house and lock the gate, but they did not stop firing,” Masih said. “I could hear them shouting that they would not spare Christians living in the area and would also burn down our church.”
The assailants fired hundreds of bullets from Kalashnikov (AK-47) rifles and other assault weapons into homes in a community where more than 300 Christian families live, he said.
Many people called the police emergency helpline after the shooting started at 2:30 p.m., but officers did not arrive until 8 p.m., he said, adding that local police have been lax in prosecuting the suspects, as they were influential people. “The police have been protecting the accused since day one because they are Muslims, and we are poor Christians.”
Muslim Mob Kills Pastor
A Muslim mob in northern Nigeria, agitated over the killing of a woman by a man they believed had converted to Christianity, hacked a pastor to death with machetes and burned down his home.
The Rev. Yohanna Shuaibu of New Life Church “was killed because his ministry had drawn many Muslims to convert to Christianity. He was chairman of the local chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria in Sumaila County,” reported morningstarnews.org.
“We know that at this kind of time, it is an immeasurable risk to be a Christian, especially in the northern part of Nigeria,” said Hosle Tongnan Michael, a friend and colleague of Pastor Shuaibu. “Anyone serving Christ can’t be sure of being alive the following day in northern Nigeria.”
“Recently we have heard of how the growth of the missionary base in Massu had been envied by the Muslims, and they wished for its uprooting from the environment for no justifiable reasons,” Michael said. “This is the story of the life of a Christian soldier, the ambassador of the Lord, who was hunted and gruesomely killed at his duty post, and his wrong was that he was a servant of the Lord.”
To read these reports and many more in full, go to morningstarnews.org.
