Kenya: beaten by Muslims

A 21-year-old Christian woman from Somalia called Fozia was beaten unconscious by hardline Muslims in Isiolo, Kenya, it has been reported.

Fozia’s family had already fled Muslim persecution in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi in the previous year. In the attack, Fozia’s 18-year-old brother’s hands and ribs were badly injured and her sister, Asha, aged 19, had two teeth broken.

‘You do not belong’

The siblings had gone outside their home to try to restore the water supply at about 7pm when the assailants approached. ‘There were noisy shouts, calling us infidels,’ Fozia recalled. ‘They said: “We know you do not belong to us. We have got hold of you today – we have no mercy on you people. You need to return to where you came from.”

‘They began hitting me with sticks and a blunt object, which injured my back and my right hand,’ she said. ‘Then I fainted for five hours and regained consciousness at the hospital.’ Fozia was hospitalised for two days. She is still having nosebleeds and her body still aches.

The family left Nairobi and resettled in Isiolo, about 170 miles north of the Kenyan capital, in 2019. Since that time, they have faced further persecution from Muslims of Somali decent. ‘[As soon as we arrived in Isiolo] Muslims started questioning why we were not attending Friday worship at the mosque,’ she said. ‘This interrogation continued for several months.’

Further threats

Fozia’s mother said the family have received further threats since the attack. ‘We are [still] receiving threats that my children should withdraw the case from police if we are to remain safe,’ the widowed mother said. ‘But we demand compensation for my three ailing children and medication for them. Three weeks have now gone by, and my children are constantly on painkillers. Please, we need prayers that we shall receive justice.’