By White Luhanga
A 36-Year-Old Father in Petauke District, Eastern Province, has beaten his 10-year-old daughter to death and later buried her in his garden.
Eastern Province Police Commissioner Robertson Mweemba says Amon Phiri, the father of the deceased, Norith Phiri, had divorced his wife, Idah Libimba, in 2023 and married another woman, Ruth Mumba, 29, with whom he had two daughters.
Mr. Mweemba stated that Mr. Phiri had two daughters from his first marriage, Norith Phiri, 10, and Fridah Phiri, 8.
He says after the divorce, the children’s mother left for Lusaka, leaving them with their grandmother. When the grandmother could not provide for them, they went to live with their father and stepmother, Ruth Mumba.
Mr. Mweemba said that the deceased would often leave home without permission, sometimes spending nights away, which upset her father.
He says that on Tuesday, August 12, 2025, the girl left home for an unknown destination and was taken back the following day by a woman commonly known as ‘A make guma’ from Makoza Village.
Mr. Mweemba says the same day she returned to the village and was taken back by another woman, identified only as Hildah, who was selling vegetables.
The Police Commissioner says when her father, who was still searching for her, became upset and beat her with a stick until she was unable to talk.
He says after beating her, the father went to look for newspapers to make a cigarette, and the girl, who was struggling to breathe, was given water by her stepmother.
He says when the father returned, the two discovered that the girl had stopped breathing.
Mr. Mweemba said that the father then threatened to kill his wife if she told anyone what had happened and buried the body in a pit in his garden, about 1 km from their house.
He says the father told people that his daughter had gone missing, but police officers received information from a community member and apprehended him.
Mr. Mweemba says upon interrogation, the father admitted to burying his daughter in his garden.
The police commissioner said that the father led officers to his garden, where the body was in a semi-decomposed state, and it was exhumed and reburied pending a state pathologist’s report.
He says the family were told to mark the grave for exhumation.
©️Zambia Reports | August 19th, 2025