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Somalia -Woman Convert to
Christianity from Islam Whipped in Public
Woman left bleeding in front of hundreds of
spectators for becoming Christian.
By Simba Tian
Compass Direct News (10.01.2012) / HRWF (12.01.2012) - A Somali
convert from Islam was paraded before a cheering crowd last month and publicly
flogged as a punishment for embracing a "foreign religion," sources
said.
Sofia Osman, a 28-year-old Christian from Janale city in Somali'as
Lower Shabelle region, had been taken into custody by Islamic extremist al
Shabaab militants in November; the public whipping was meant to mark her
release. She received 40 lashes on Dec. 22 while jeered by spectators.
"Osman was whipped 40 lashes at 3 p.m., but she didn't tell
what other humiliations she had suffered while in the hands of the
militants," an eyewitness, told Compass, adding that whipping left her
bleeding. "I saw her faint. I thought she had died, but soon she regained
consciousness and her family took her away."
The whipping was administered in front of hundreds of spectators
after Osman was released from her month-long custody in al Shabaab camps.
Nursing her injuries at her family's home, in the days after the punishment she
would not talk to anyone and looked dazed, a source close in touch with the
family said. She has since been relocated.
"Please pray for her quick recovery," the source
said.
Janale, one Somalia's major cities, is about 200 kilometers (124
miles) from Mogadishu.
Osman became a Christian four years ago and was a member of the
underground church in the war-torn Horn of Africa country largely controlled by
the al Qaeda-linked militants from al Shabaab.
The al Shabaab militia is being hunted down by Kenya Defense
Forces in southern Somalia following the extremists' incursions into Kenya.
They had killed and kidnapped tourists and aid workers inside Kenya, prompting
military forces to formally enter into war to secure its borders.
In response, the al Shabaab militants have targeted churches in
northern Kenyan towns such as Garissa in the hope of dividing Kenyans along
religious lines. The Kenyan public, however, is largely backed the government
decision to pursue the militants deep into Somalia.