THE leaders of two major church groupings said yesterday they were saddened by the death of the 11-year-old Lusaka girl who was defiled by a 32-year-old step brother in Lusaka and want the culprit to be jailed for life.

Evangelical Fellowship of Zambia (EFZ) executive director Paul Mususu and Zambia Episcopal Conference (ZEC) secretary general Ignatius Mwebe said the Penal code should be amended to provide for life sentence for defilers.

The girl was allegedly defiled by the step brother in Lusaka on several occasions and died on Sunday of suspected medical complications arising from sexual abuse spanning three years.

Bishop Mususu and Father Mwebe in separate interviews in Lusaka yesterday said people convicted of defilement and rape were evil and deserved to be locked up for life so that they could not cause pain on others.

"Stiffer punishment is the only answer to stop the incidents of defilement in the country. It is sad that a life has been lost," Bishop Mususu said.

He said police should go all out to arrest the defiler and ensure that he is given the maximum penalty so that his punishment could serve as a deterrent to others similarly inclined.

The Zambia National Women's Lobby Group (ZNWLG) Programme officer for training and resource development Horance Chilando condemned the defiling of the girl and called for the punishment of the culprit.

Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) national Youth chairperson Steven Sichone said his organisation would continue to lobby Government to stiffen the punishment on those convicted of rape and defilement.

The deceased girl's step mother Elizabeth Seke urged police to arrest the suspect, saying it was very painful that the man could do such a shameful thing to an innocent child.

Police yesterday conducted a postmortem to establish the cause of the death before burial.

The suspect is still at large.