A Somali convert from Islam was paraded before a cheering crowd recently and publicly flogged as a punishment for embracing a "foreign religion." Sofia Osman, a 28-year-old Christian from Janale city in Somalia's Lower Shabelle region, had been taken into custody by al Shabaab militants in November.

The public whipping was meant to mark her release. She received 40 lashes on December 22 while jeered by spectators. " was whipped 40 lashes ... but she didn't tell what other humiliations she had suffered while in the hands of the militants," an eyewitness said, adding that the whipping left her bleeding. "I saw her faint. I thought she had died, but soon she regained consciousness and her family took her away." The whipping was administered in front of hundreds of spectators after Sofia was released from her month-long custody in al Shabaab camps.

In the days after the punishment while Sofia was nursing her injuries at her family's home, she would not talk to anyone and looked dazed, a source close in touch with the family said. "Please pray for her quick recovery," the source added.

Source: Voice of the Martyrs, January 12th, 2012