Two sisters were recovering Thursday after their father allegedly tried to burn them to death in western Uganda.
In comments shared with Worthy News, Amina and Shamila recalled being inside their home in the Kibenge locality in Uganda’s Kasese District when their house was set on fire.
They explained that their father, Muhamud, had doused the house with petrol, then set it alight while they were asleep on September 6.
He had reportedly told the teenagers that he would act “to fulfill Islamic law since they had rejected Islam” when they “converted to Christianity” on August 26.
The girls, who are reportedly in their teens, awoke to the smell and sight of flames surrounding them.
ESCAPING THE FLAMES
“We saw flames of fire consuming our house quietly,” Amina said in remarks shared by advocacy group International Christian Concern (ICC). “We now started looking for Plan B to escape death.”
The girls barely escaped in time.
“We saw the flames coming out of the house, and we knew that our lives were in danger,” Shamila added. “We removed the bricks and escaped through the hole. Thank God that He gave us a way to get out alive.”
However, the girls explained that the fire destroyed almost everything they owned, including mattresses, clothes, and other personal belongings.
Yet Amina stressed that her Christian faith, and her sister’s, had grown stronger than before. “We are happy to say that the fire consumed our shelter but did not consume our faith and hope in Jesus Christ.”
FAITH REMAINS STRONG
Amina added: “We managed to remove some bricks from the wall and created a hole where we escaped from until other Christian neighbors came to rescue us and called the local leaders.”
Local Christian leaders condemned the alleged arson as illegal, insisting that “the girls’ father should be brought to justice.”
It was not immediately clear Thursday whether or when the father would face trial. The full names of the reported victims and alleged attacker were not published due to security concerns.
“I want to thank God for protecting these people,” ICC quoted a local chief, who wished to remain anonymous, as saying.
“I also thank the Christians of my area for having that solidarity to rescue these innocent people. We are against these murderous acts under the cover of having a religious fight; it’s notorious and uncalled for,” the official asserted.
CONVERTS FACE PRESSURE
Open Doors, an advocacy group supporting persecuted Christians, suggests that this was not an isolated case. Although Uganda is predominantly Christian and guarantees religious freedom, Christians who convert from Islam can face serious pressure and violence from relatives and their communities, according to Open Doors.
Its World Watch Research has documented cases in which Muslim-background Christians faced rejection, physical attacks and even killings because of their conversion.
Such pressure is particularly acute in Muslim-dominated areas, according to Open Doors researchers.
The attack highlighted broader concerns about Christian converts in Uganda. However, the East African nation of nearly 50 million people does not appear on Open Doors’ 2026 World Watch List (WWL).
Published annually, the WWL includes 50 countries where Open Doors says Christians face the most severe persecution and discrimination because of their faith.
