Chinese supervisors at Zamfresh receive more knocks for reportedly brutalizing woman

The Non-governmental Gender Organisations’ Coordinating Council (NGOCC) said on Monday it was appalled by a video circulating online showing two Chinese nationals violently restraining and assaulting a woman at local agribusiness firm Zamfresh, calling the incident a grave violation of women’s rights and national laws.

NGOCC Executive Director, Anne Anamela, said the footage showed “brutality, cowardice and a complete disregard for human dignity,” adding that no explanation or context could justify the assault. Zambia, she said, was founded on the rule of law and the protection of every individual.

“The scenes captured in this video are not only a criminal act but an affront to women’s rights and a stain on our collective national conscience,” she said in a statement issued in Lusaka.

She added that no Zambian, “least of all a woman,” should face such treatment within the country’s borders.

Anamela urged authorities to strengthen protections for vulnerable workers and warned against any perception that perpetrators— including foreign employers— could act with impunity. “Anyone living, working or conducting business in Zambia is strictly bound by Zambian law,” she said.

She called for the suspects to be investigated and prosecuted “to the full extent of the law,” stressing that violence against women has no place in the country.

The Zambian government had said it would recommend the revocation of work permits for the Chinese supervisors implicated in the incident.

Givens Muntengwa, Labour Commissioner at the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, said officials had reviewed CCTV footage showing the worker being physically handled by her employer.

Speaking during an inspection at Zamfresh on Monday, Muntengwa said the conduct violated Zambia’s labour laws and would not be tolerated.

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