Muslim family members cut off Jinja man's hands for converting to Christianity

• 40-year-old Kalegeya Faruku was brutally attacked by his own family members after converting from Islam to Christianity.

• Faruku was ambushed by his brothers while attempting to collect personal belongings from his home to relocate for his safety.

• The assailants forcibly amputated both of Faruku's hands, an act his father later justified by citing Sharia law regarding apostasy.

A shocking attack took place in Jinja district in eastern Uganda, where a Muslim family reportedly cut off the hands of their relative after he converted to Christianity. 

The victim, Kalegeya Faruku, a 40-year-old man, says his own relatives turned on him and maimed him when he accepted Christ in early March 2026

He says the relatives began sending him threatening messages after learning about his new faith, and he knew it was unsafe to stay in his home. 

On April 17, he returned to his family home in Jinja to collect some personal belongings, intending to relocate to Busembatia Town Council, where a friend who had shared the gospel with him lived. However, upon his arrival, Faruku was ambushed by his brothers.

"I found my brothers waiting for me, as if they had been informed," Faruku recounted. 

"My elder brother approached me, pretending to ask about my whereabouts, but then he grabbed me, and others surrounded me."

Faruku says he was forcibly taken into the house, where they cut off his hands while reciting Islamic scripture.

After the brutal attack, his family abandoned him near a crossroads, leaving him severely injured. 

Fortunately, a passerby found Faruku and raised an alarm, resulting in him being rushed to a nearby clinic for treatment. 

He is currently receiving medical care, though his hands were lost in the attack.

Faruku's father, Lubega Issa, justified the assault by citing sharia (Islamic law), stating, "That is what sharia instructs us to do to those who deny the religion of Allah." 

The police had not yet issued a statement about the incident, and it remains unclear if any arrests have been made.

Christian leaders are calling for a thorough investigation and for greater efforts to promote peaceful coexistence and religious freedom in the country.