Two weeks ago, Nation on Sunday carried an article in its Msangulutso supplement of a man in Mwanza who has been bedding his married daughter for some time until the husband caught them red handed and gave up on the marriage.
The Mwanza scenario is one of the many reported and unreported cases of incest and sexual exploitation.
Another man in Nsanje is serving a sentence for defiling his daughter as his wife slept beside them in a room the trio shared.
Strangely, some men prefer to sleep with their own daughters, whether young or old. If not in a relationship with their daughter, other men have resorted to either raping or defiling their offspring.
While stories of incest and defilement have made headlines with subsequent arrests of perpetrators, little has been reported on the reasoning behind father to daughter attraction or motive.
There has been speculation of these being part of a ritual to getting rich.
Psychologist and family counselor on religious matters, Chezani Maland, wondered how some men get attracted to their daughters. He described this as abnormal and perplexing.
“As humans, we need to sense and filter the way we get attracted. It is our duty to control our feelings because it is inhuman for a father to sleep with his daughter. Sometimes many men have the desire to ‘taste’ their beautiful daughter before some other men do.
“It is behaviour that has potential to create immorality in our daughters as they might have problems to get a man for marriage. Sometimes the girls give in to their father’s advances out of fear as it comes with intimidation and threats. But one thing clear is: God gets angry with that,” said Maland.
Pastor Sadiki Swaraki of Living Waters Church in Dowa said men have more power than women as such they have an upper hand in forcing their daughters to sleep with them, which women cannot do to boys although, he said, some females do it.
“Because of the ready availability of their daughters in the home, they think it is easy to approach them. The daughters may respond in fear and would not want to disappoint the father,” he said.
Efati Mwango, a teacher at Nathenje in Lilongwe, asked women to help in curbing this malpractice by being vigilant and also report cases when they happen in their homes or neighbourhood.
“The act means wives are being shunned. It is humiliating to the wives as men pounce on their younger daughters. Sadly, some men have ended up marrying the daughters,” he said.
