Somali Woman Whipped in Public for Converting From Islam

Religion Today | Published: Jan 10, 2012

Somali Woman Whipped in Public for Converting From Islam

January 11, 2012

A Somali Christian convert from Islam was paraded before a cheering crowd last month and publicly flogged as a punishment for embracing a "foreign religion," Compass Direct News reports. Sofia Osman, 28, was taken into custody by Islamic al Shabaab militants in November, and the public whipping was meant to mark her release. While jeered by hundreds of spectators on Dec. 22, she received 40 lashes. "Osman was whipped 40 lashes at 3 p.m., but she didn't tell what other humiliations she had suffered while in the hands of the militants," an eyewitness said. "I saw her faint. I thought she had died, but soon she regained consciousness and her family took her away." Nursing her injuries at her family's home in the days after the whipping, she would not talk to anyone and looked dazed, a source close to the family said. "Please pray for her quick recovery," the source said.

Somali Woman Whipped in Public for Converting From Islam