A two-year-old boy has been reportedly sentenced to life in a North Korean prison camp after a Bible was found in the home of his parents. This was revealed by the US State Department’s International Religious Freedom Report.
It was said that the toddler, including his entire family, was locked up due to the discovery and their religious beliefs.
The report also highlighted similar cases of North Korean citizens being killed for practicing their Christian faith. It also included the case of a woman and her grandchild who were executed by firing squad in 2011.
Another pattern of punishments meted out to believers in the country, as indicated in the report, includes “pigeon torture”, where they were suspended with their hands tied behind their backs, unable to sit or stand for days on end.
A victim was quoted as saying, “It was the most painful of all tortures. It was so painful, I felt it was better to die.”
Some were also said to have been tortured with sleep deprivation, including one woman in solitary confinement who was driven to suicide in 2020 after prison guards refused to let her sleep.
No fewer than 70,000 Christians have been allegedly imprisoned for their faith under the Kim Jong-un regime, out of a possible population of 400,000.
The new publication said several North Korean Christians hid their faith from their children.