The Episcopal Conference of Malawi (ECM) has condemned the abduction and torture of a Catholic nun in Zomba.
The Catholic bishops say that on Thursday 11th April 2024, unknown people in a car stopped the nun pretending to be good Samaritans but later took the nun to a destination beyond where she was intending to go.
According to the letter ECM released and signed by ten bishops the assailants tortured the nun saying they didn’t subscribe to her faith, to her identity as a religious and later forcefully removed and threw out the rosary and the cross she was wearing, and the case has been reported to law enforcement agencies.
“Everyone knows that the Rosary and Cross are religious articles that give an identity and are a sacred value to an individual who wears and uses them. While we may treat this as an isolated case, we wish to condemn this appalling and distressing incident in the strongest terms, this is one incident among several others that have occurred in our country recently and we fear that this has the potential to disrupt the peace that Malawian society is known for,” reads part of ECM letter.
The Bishops also repeated that in their recent pastoral letter ‘The Sad Story of Malawi’ they also stressed issues of religious intolerance and that everyone has freedom of worship as enshrined in the Constitution.
“We call religious leaders and indeed our leaders to preach peace and peaceful co-existence with one another to their flock. We further urge the same leaders to live by example” ECM added.
Meanwhile, Muslim Association of Malawi Spokesperson, Sheikh Dinala Chabulika, told the local media that religious intolerance and assault are rampant in the country and he said the act has no place in a Democratic society like Malawi and has appealed to the Police to investigate and establish the truth and apply the necessary law.
