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A 47-year-old man accused of defiling his seven-year-old daughter has told a Lusaka court he could never commit such an act, insisting the allegations were based on unverified claims made by people in the ward at Lusaka’s Cancer Diseases Hospital, where the child was receiving treatment for cancer.
The man, identified in court only as JF for legal reasons, is charged with one count of incest for allegedly abusing his daughter between July and September 2024 while nursing her at the hospital.
Giving his defence, JF denied the accusations and said he first heard of them on March 11, when a nurse told him that some people in the ward had accused him of inappropriate conduct with the child and had made cultural insinuations that he was doing so for traditional purposes.
He told the court the matter had never been formally reported to the nurse on duty.
He said the allegations were later referred to social welfare officers, who initially declined to take any action because the nurse could not formally lay a complaint.
JF testified that after his daughter underwent a medical scan, he was summoned by welfare officers and found a social worker and an armed police officer waiting for him.
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He was taken to a police station, where he was informed he was being accused of defilement.
“I could not understand how I could do such a thing to my own child, especially in a hospital setting,” he said, adding that police officers searched him for charms while he was in custody but found nothing.
During cross-examination, JF confirmed the girl is his daughter and that he was one of the people caring for her, along with her older sibling.
He denied bathing the child, saying that responsibility fell to her sister.
“My honour, please, I can never sleep with my own daughter. I brought her to Lusaka so she could get help as the cancer was spreading. I can’t do such a thing to a sick child,” he told the court.
Judgment is scheduled for June 4, 2026. The charge carries a minimum sentence of 20 years if he is convicted.
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