Muslim extremists cut off the hand of a 42-year-old father in eastern Uganda after they found out he had converted from Islam to Christianity. 

According to Morning Star News, Musa John Kasadah of Maumo village, located in the Luuka District, had attended an open-air evangelistic event with his wife, Asiya, and their six children on June 17. At the event, Musa and his family made the decision to put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ.  

The family stopped going to mosque and instead began attending church services. But one day, the pastor of the church Musa and his family were attending received a note from one of Musa’s brothers. It read, “It has come to our attention that Musa Kasadah and the family are attending your church. This should stop immediately, otherwise your church is at risk.”

Concerned for the family’s safety, the pastor arranged for Musa, Asiya and the children to temporarily live with a local Maumo official. But two weeks later, on June 26, a group of Muslim extremists discovered the location where they were staying.

The family wasn’t at the official’s home at the time, but four of the extremists tracked them down about nine miles away and stopped them in the middle of the road.

“’We have been tracking you from the house of (the local official) to here, and today is your last day to be alive. Allah has given you into our hands,’” Asiya recalled the attackers saying. 

“They started beating my husband and then got hold of me and tied me up. They forced me to sing Christian songs as they began chopping off my husband’s hand.”

One assailant took a long Somali sword and cut off Musa’s hand and part of his forearm, intending to kill him. But before he was able to kill Musa, a truck with sugarcane workers came upon the scene and the extremists fled.

“The workers on the truck then bound the wound of my husband’s hand and untied me and took us to the nearby clinic for first aid,” Asiya said. She then phoned the local official, and “he came and found my husband in great pain and arranged an ambulance that took him to Mbale Referral Hospital for specialized treatment.”

Musa is still recovering from his injuries.

Photo: Ron Giling/Alamy