Teenager Locked Up and Starved for Becoming Christian

Musobya Aramanzani of Nankoma, Bugiri District, learned that his 17-year-old son had accepted Christ earlier this year after hearing preaching in Iganga. His son was attending a boarding school in Iganga. An area pastor said a teacher at the school called Aramanzani to report the conversion, and the boy was locked up upon a return visit home.

Musobya Aramanzani of Nankoma, Bugiri District, learned that his 17-year-old son had accepted Christ earlier this year after hearing preaching in Iganga. His son was attending a boarding school in Iganga. An area pastor said a teacher at the school called Aramanzani to report the conversion, and the boy was locked up upon a return visit home.

The pastor learned of the abuse on Sept. 15 during evangelistic home visits in Nankoma. He said the previous day, Aramanzani did not allow him and other Christians engaged in an evangelistic campaign that week to enter his property, and the team learned from area residents that he had locked his son inside for more than four months for converting to Christianity.

The team returned on Sept. 15, and the pastor pleaded to be granted a few minutes to pray for the family; he said they were given five minutes.

“As we were praying, there was a powerful, bad smell in the house,” said the pastor, whose name is withheld for security reasons. “Since we were many, we forcefully entered the inner room where the smell came from and found a teenage boy in a dilapidated state.”

Aramanzani told the pastor and his team that when his son returned home, he and other relatives tied him up and denied him food because he had “become a Christian by making a public confession, which was a disgrace to our family. The message reached us through his teachers at Ibun Baz secondary school in Iganga, where our son was schooling. His teacher called us over the phone and told us about him joining Christianity.”

At the hospital, the pastor said, the boy could utter only a few words about his mistreatment. The pastor said he learned from his mother that she had provided him water while he was locked up.

The pastor said Aramanzani later repented of the cruelty and other sins and put his faith in Christ.

“He persuaded us not to report the incident to the police,” the pastor said. “The situation at the moment is very delicate because the father risks being arrested, and at the same time, he is a new Christian. We first need to treat the suffering young man, then later discuss the next course of action with the family.”

Uganda’s constitution and other laws provide for religious freedom, including the right to propagate one’s faith and convert from one religion to another. Muslims make up no more than 12 percent of Uganda’s population, with high concentrations in eastern areas of the country.