SUDAN: Mother of four who converted to Christianity is chained, tortured, and loses her children for leaving Islam

Awatif Abdalla Kaki, a 27-year-old mother of four in Sudan, became a Christian on Jan. 27, 2023. For leaving Islam to accept Christ, she was chained in her home by her husband, subjected to electrical shocks at a psychiatric hospital, and has lost all of her children, a local source said.

(Persecution of Christians in Sudan is widespread as you can see in the videos below)

Christian News (h/t Nita) A few days after accepting Christ, she had a dream in which He appeared to her, and she told her relatives about it and her new faith at her parents’ home in Omdurman, across the Nile from Khartoum, where she, her husband and children lived, the source said.

Her husband tried to force her to renounce her faith by chaining her legs and tightening the chains, the source said. Asserting that she was mad, he then forcibly took her to a psychiactric hospital, where she received an unidentified injection and electrical shocks against her will, the source said.

Abdalla’s legs were injured from the chains, and although her husband has taken their children to his parents’ house to live with him, he maintains a large influence on her family and remains a threat, the source said. The oldest of her four children is 8 years old.

“She continues to live in mental anguish,” the source said, adding that her parents and siblings are all Muslims who believe she is suffering mental illness for believing in Christ. “I fear for her safety and pray that she can get a refuge outside her home so that she has peace of mind and can grow in her new faith.”

Abdalla is receiving no assistance from any Christians, the source said.

In Open Doors’ 2023 World Watch List of the countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian, Sudan was ranked No. 10, up from No. 13 the previous year, as attacks by non-state actors continued and religious freedom reforms at the national level were not enacted locally.

Following two years of advances in religious freedom in Sudan after the end of the Islamic dictatorship under Omar al-Bashir in 2019, the specter of state-sponsored persecution returned with the military coup of Oct. 25, 2021. With the Oct. 25, 2021 coup, Christians in Sudan fear the return of the most repressive and harsh aspects of Islamic law.

The Christian population of Sudan is estimated at 2 million, or 4.5 percent of the total population of more than 43 million.

What does persecution look like in Sudan?

Open Doors Persecution of Christians remains at a high level in Sudan, and there are fears this will worsen amid the ongoing unrest. 

Social attitudes towards Christians have not changed. This is especially the case in areas outside the capital, Khartoum. Christians are still vulnerable to extreme persecution from both their communities and their own families, particularly if they have converted from Islam. Converts may face sexual assault and domestic violence in their homes, as well as being vulnerable to imprisonment and violence.

The government hasn’t put real protections in place for Christians and other religious minorities. Since the military coup, four churches have been forced to close, and even with the change in official status, confiscated churches and lands have yet to be returned to their Christian owners. Trying to build new churches is still extremely difficult.

The most vulnerable Christians are those who have converted from Islam – this was once punishable by death in Sudan. Although the death penalty for leaving Islam has now been abolished, there are fears that it could be reinstated.

Many believe that Sudan will return to the authoritarian years of ousted leader Omar al-Bashir. This could undo the positive steps made towards religious freedom under the transitional government and may intensify the persecution against Christians. In August 2022, the government established a community police which resembles the disbanded morality police.