Cry of desperate mother in child defilement case highlights deeper societal crisis —Phiri

A recent viral video showing three women pleading for the release of a man accused of defiling his own child has shocked the nation, sparking renewed debate over justice, poverty, and gender vulnerability.

Describing the plea as a “desperate cry for survival,” Apostle Agness Chongo Phiri, Founder of Heart of Mercy, said the incident exposes a deeper societal crisis—where poverty, economic dependence, and ignorance intersect to silence justice and protect perpetrators of child abuse.

“This was not a claim of innocence—it was a desperate cry for survival,” Phiri said in a statement on Sunday, adding “As the law rightly takes its course, we must confront the root causes of such tragedies: poverty, spiritual manipulation, and the economic vulnerability of women.”

She noted that in some African communities, harmful beliefs perpetuated by witch doctors—such as the notion that sleeping with children brings wealth or healing—continue to drive abuse.

Others, she said, commit such acts in pursuit of power or status.

“But perhaps most devastating is the complicity born out of economic dependence—when mothers, unable to survive without the abuser, end up shielding the perpetrator rather than protecting the child,” Phiri said.

She emphasised that women’s empowerment must go beyond rhetoric, arguing that economically and socially empowered women are better positioned to protect their children and uphold justice.

“A woman with agency can reject manipulation born out of hunger or fear,” she said.

Phiri also warned against society’s tendency to shame vulnerable women, particularly on social media.

“Outrage often targets the symptoms, not the disease,” she said. “Desperation should not be ridiculed—it should convict us. It should drive us to build systems that protect children and lift women out of cycles of silence and survival.”

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