Sources say a 23-year-old Muslim who converted to Christianity in eastern Uganda was poisoned to death that night. The woman's unfortunate death was condemed by the local officials and villagers. Her stepmom - who placed poison on her food - is still at large.

At the invitation of a friend in Wakawaka village, Bugiri District, Namata Habiiba attended a church service on Sept. 18 and placed her faith in Christ.

After her parents were killed in a car accident in 2019, Habiiba, who lived with her Muslim stepmother, returned home from church with her friend, and her stepmother asked why she had returned so late. A friend, whose identity is withheld for security reasons, says Habiiba told her that she had attended a church service and converted to Christianity, which caused her stepmother, Namu Sauya, to stop talking to her.

The friend, who was fasting that day and did not eat, described Sauya preparing and serving food for them. Habiiba began vomiting within minutes of complaining of severe stomach pain, according to his friend.

According to Christian Post, Sauya was not responding to the friend's shouts for her, she said. Habiiba's friend reported that Sauya had disappeared after neighbors arrived.

Despite medication given by a doctor at a hospital in Bugiri, Habiiba died soon afterwards, her friend said. A postmortem determined that rat poison had caused her death, she said.

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Habiiba leaves behind a 3-year-old child. The child's father is a married Muslim who plans on taking her as a second wife.  

Sauya remains missing after the killing. Local officials and other villagers are undertaking a search for her.

Another Uganda woman beaten due to faith

In another news, a woman in  central Uganda's Bamusuta village, Kiboga District, was beaten by her Muslim husband after knowing that she converted to Christianity. 

Falida Nazziwa, 42 years old, came home from a church service when her truck driver husband, Saidi Mudogo learned about her change of heart.

"In the morning as I went back home, I found my husband very furious on the compound, and he asked about where I slept," Nazziwa told Morning Star News. "I told him the truth that I had gone for an overnight prayer in the church. After hearing the words 'overnight prayer,' he just jumped on my neck shouting, 'Prayers, not in my house,' and started beating and strangling me while shouting, 'Allah akbar [God is greater]! Kafir, kafir [infidel]!'" 

Nazziwa was rescued by two men who heard her shouting. She ran away from home with her three children and took asylum in an undisclosed location when Mudogo continued chasing them.

The church pastor assisted Nazziwa who was treated after being beaten. The incident was reported to the Kiboga police station and they're hoping to capture the assailant.

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