WE JOIN the grieving father of a 16-year-old girl of Lusaka’s Mtendere East Compound who was murdered and mutilated by her 32-year-old lover last Monday.
It is heart-breaking not only for the father but the whole nation that a life that was full of promise was terminated by an evil man for reasons only known to himself.
What is even more traumatising is that the girl was a grade 9 pupil with a bright future staring in her face like rays of an October morning. This one of the worst cases of gender-based violence Zambia has witnessed in years.
How can a man in the right frame of his mind lure such a young soul with an innocent sounding phone call from her parents’ home only to butcher her like an animal?
Like many other Zambians we demand that the girl and her father receive justice. Her killer must face the full force of the law and pay for his barbaric act.
The search for his missing 16-year-old daughter ended in a gruesome discovery as a witchdoctor led police to a 32-year-old man who allegedly killed and dumped the body of the Grade Nine pupil.
Simon Lungu of Lusaka’s Mtendere East Compound said he had no idea that his daughter was in a relationship with a man and remains traumatised by the turn of events.
We commend the witch doctor for being a responsible citizen who could not condone or cover up such a heinous crime. He did well to report Crispin Kawanga to police when he went to seek help from him saying he had killed someone.
Kawanga murdered the girl in Mtendere East, cut her body up and managed to take her severed parts to Salama Park where he dumped them in a drainage. After realising the gravity of the crime he had committed superstitition got the better of him forcing him to seek protection from a witch doctor.
It is difficult to imagine the trauma Mr Lungu and the girl’s siblings must be going through now. We can only offer our condolences and pray that God will give them strength in this harrowing time.
Mr Lungu narrated how his second born daughter went missing on Sunday, after telling him that she had gone to collect a skirt from the tailor within Mtendere East Compound.
His account of the events of that Monday and the day that followed is hear-breaking. The girl died a painful death. As if killing her was not evil enough Kawanga mutilated her body, severing it into three pieces so that it could fit into a sack.
Mr Lungu narrated that his daughter was the one who usually helped with home chores and on the fateful day around 09:00 hours after preparing breakfast for the family, she asked for permission to go out to collect a skirt from a tailor and he allowed her to go.
Around 12:00 hours she had not yet returned. Like any other father and parent Mr Lungu was concerned but thought she would be home soon. By 17:00 hours the girl was not yet home.
He alerted members of the extended family and reported the matter to the police.
“When I came back she was not yet home and people were looking for her.
Unfortunately, we did not find her on Monday. I went for work and I was calling home to find out if she had been found. There was no news of her,” a grieving Mr Lungu recalled.
“We tried to call relatives. No one had seen her and the matter was reported to the police. My daughter was 16 years and doing Grade Nine. I had no idea that she had a boyfriend. All I knew was that my daughter was going to school,” Mr Lungu said.
Those were the words of a heart-broken father. We join those who have appealed to girls to concentrate on school instead of engaging in sexual affairs which have the potential of not only ruining their future but cost their lives as well.
We urge girl-children to desist from engaging in sexual relationship but concentrate on securing their future. Those who are at school should focus on education while those who may not have such an opportunity should find a skill that will help them sustain themselves.
