Christian Booted from Islam-Only Maldives

(Male, Maldives) In September, a 30-year-old teacher from India, Shijo Kokkattu, was arrested after police found a Bible and a rosary in his house during a raid.

Charging that Kokkattu was preaching his Christian faith in the Muslim nation, which recently tightened restrictions on preaching and practice of non-Islamic faiths, police took him to another island for interrogation and kept him in custody for more than two weeks, said the source, who requested anonymity.

Police raided his home after Kokkattu’s colleagues found Christian materials on a school computer he had used and reported it to authorities.

While downloading material from his pen drive, Kokkattu had mistakenly downloaded some Catholic songs in the Malayalam language (used in a south Indian state) and a picture of the Virgin Mary.

Kokkattu was deported on October 14.