Hubby, stepson took turns to defile girl 10, witness narrates
By Esther Chisola
A LUSAKA woman accused of bribing police officers to release her incest accused husband on Thursday told the Lusaka Magistrates’ Court that her stepson and spouse took turns to defile her 10-year-old daughter.
Rebecca Mbewe, 42, a housewife, was testifying in a case in which her husband, Steven Phiri, is accused of defiling his daughter and infecting her with HIV.
Phiri, a herbalist, is facing one count of incest contrary to Section 159 (1) of the Penal Code Chapter 87 of the Laws of Zambia.
Allegations are that between January 1, 2025, and March 26, 2025, Phiri had unlawful carnal knowledge of a 10-year-old, who, according to his understanding, is his biological daughter.
When the case came up for continued trial before Magistrate Kawama Mwamfuli, Mbewe told the court that she used to hear rumors from her stepdaughter suggesting that her 10-year-old daughter was being defiled by the father.
She said the victim, who is her fourth-born daughter, was born in January 2015.
“According to my stepdaughter, my husband found his son, who is also my stepson, in his room naked with my daughter. I don’t know what was happening between my daughter and my stepson, so I decided to call my husband to inquire about the matter. When I asked him why he never informed me about the matter, he responded by asking me, saying, ‘what do you think my son can do to his sister? Fast forward to this year in March, my firstborn son told me that he saw his father carrying my daughter to the living room. After some time, he went to the living room to check, but he didn’t find anyone until I went to the passage. I found her coming out of the bathroom,” she said.
Mbewe narrated how she decided to take her daughter to Chawama Level One Hospital to conduct a medical check-up.
“At the hospital, I was told that I first needed to get a police report, which I did, and I proceeded to the hospital. I was given a medical report that I took to the police. I was told that she was not defiled, but she has HIV,” Mbewe explained.
She told the court that her husband, Phiri, discouraged her from putting her on life-saving medication.
“When I told my husband about the issue, he told me that we shouldn’t start giving her medication immediately. I told my husband that we needed to take her to UTH because she seemed to be sad, not active, and weak all the time, which was unlike her. She wasn’t even eating,” she said.
Mbewe said an HIV test was redone on her daughter, and the results came back positive, which led to investigations into how she contracted the virus.
“They asked if the child was HIV positive from birth, and I said no. I told them that I am positive, but not her. The doctor then directed me to another doctor to get medication because her CD4 count was low. Before leaving, the nurses told me to be outside because they wanted to counsel her about HIV,” she said.
She said immediately after the counseling session was done, she received a phone call from her husband informing her that he had been arrested and detained at Kabwata Police Station.
“I asked him why he was arrested, and he said he was charged with defilement. So, I told him that I will join him once I am done with the tests. I then asked the nurse if she knew something about the arrest. The nurse said the girl told them that her father inserts three fingers in her private parts and her three brothers have been raping her continuously,” she said.
Trial continue.
