International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that on November 27, an alleged terrorist attacked the Salvation Army’s service post in central Sulawesi, before burning six houses of church members. Four Christians were murdered, with three being butchered.

Around 8 a.m., the Lewonu Lembantongoa Service Post, located in Sigi Regency, Central Sulawesi, set up as an outreach effort by the Salvation Army in Indonesia (Bala Keselamatan), was attacked by the alleged terrorist.

He set the church on fire, before attacking Captain Arnianto, Mrs. Mpapa, Lieutenant Abram Kako and his wife and burning down six houses of the church members. Out of the four victims, three were hacked to death, while the other was burned.

In the video seen by ICC, the charred victim was pulled from a pile of ruins, with smoke still rising in the background. The fowler position of the body suggests the agony and pain endured by the victim before death.

Lemban Tongoa is located in the forest, where access of information and transportation is limited. ICC will continue to follow up to learn more about the details of the attack. The Salvation Army is asking for prayers “for the family of the victims, for the church, and for the peace of the region.”

Gina Goh, ICC’s Regional Manager for Southeast Asia, said, “ICC mourns the death of the Indonesian brothers and sisters who were brutally murdered by the alleged terrorist. We urge the Indonesian government to take necessary measures to hold him accountable and put him to justice. Such senseless act cannot be tolerated in the country that boasts ‘Pancasila,’ the state ideology which promotes religious harmony and tolerance.”

Pakistan – According to local reports, a Christian teen from Pakistan’s Punjab province has recently returned to her family after being abducted and abused by a group of Muslim men.

On September 28, five armed men, identified as Talha Maider, Bilawal Jaffar, Jaffar Shareef, Salman, and Nomi, forcibly entered into the home of Maqsood Masih located in Village 248 of the Faisalabad district. According to Masih, the attackers were there to abduct his 16-year-old daughter named Shiza.

Members of the family attempted to protect Shiza but were beaten and abused by the assailants. Shiza was dragged into the street, forced into a vehicle, and taken to an unknown place where she was raped and abused for three days. According to Shiza, her abusers often called her ‘Chori’, a derogatory term used against Pakistani Christians.

To cover their crimes, Shiza’s abductors forcefully converted her to Islam and marrying her to one of the assailants. Shiza’s abductors used threats and physical violence to force Shiza to place her thumb impressions on both the marriage and conversion certificates.

After two months in captivity, Shiza managed to escape and, on November 23, Shiza returned to her family. Shiza and her family have filed an application against the abductors and have moved to a safe location. However, the police have yet to arrest any of the men identified by Shiza.

According to a study by the Movement for Solidarity and Peace Pakistan, an estimated 1,000 Christian and Hindu women are abducted, forcefully married, and forcefully converted to Islam every year. Many of the victims are minors. Sexual assaults and fraudulent marriages are used by perpetrators to entrap victims and authorities are often complicit.

The issue of religion is injected into cases of sexual assault to place victims from religious minority communities at a disadvantage. Playing upon religious biases, perpetrators know they can cover up and justify their crimes by introducing an element of religion.
Sources:persecution