“You killed your mother… admit you are a witch.”
Tears run down the face of 10-year-old Mardoche Yembi as a pastor bellows at him in his north London home.
“Don’t lie, don’t lie, don’t lie,” the pastor says repeatedly.
Surrounded by relatives pleading with him to “admit it”, Mardoche finally breaks down.
“I’m a witch,” he cries.
It’s one of the most harrowing scenes in new film Kindoki Witch Boy – and it’s even more upsetting knowing that the events depicted on screen are what Mardoche says happened to him in real life.
He was just eight years old when he moved to the UK after his mother’s death in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
As he settled into life in a new country, living with members of his extended family, he enjoyed what most boys his age enjoy – he loved football and dreamed of playing for his beloved club Arsenal.
But his traumatic two-year ordeal began when a relative having bad dreams sought the advice of a pastor. The pastor claimed the dreams were the result of Kindoki – a term for witchcraft used in DR Congo – and Mardoche was to blame.
“Kindoki eat human beings,” the pastor says during a church service depicted in the film. “They nourish themselves on human flesh.”
Mardoche was branded a “servant of Satan” and accused of killing his mother and baby sister, who had also died in DR Congo.
“You are possessed, there is a spirit inside you,” the pastor told the youngster. “You fly around doing the work of the devil.”
He was shunned by family members, forced to eat alone in his room, prevented from using the bathroom – and at one point had a knife held to his throat, Mardoche says.
The abusive behaviour led to a serious incident of self-harm, which the now 33-year-old describes as his “lowest moment”.
“It’s hard when you live in a world where everyone just hates you,” he tells Sky News.
“I had all these people against me. I was just on my own. Somehow I knew I had to fight… but I was fearful for my life.”
The film, directed by BAFTA-nominated filmmaker Penny Woolcock, was released last month on the 25th anniversary of the death of Victoria Climbie.
The eight-year-old was tortured to death in north London in 2000 by her great aunt and her partner after a Christian preacher convinced them she was possessed.
The case raised awareness of faith-based abuse. Worryingly, it is an issue that still exists in the UK.
Data released by London’s police force, the Metropolitan Police, shows 59 offences linked to witchcraft accusations or ritualistic abuse were recorded between 2021 and 2024 – including 51 violence against the person crimes and five sexual offences.
Meanwhile, 2,180 assessments to determine if a child needed social care services identified “abuse linked to faith or belief” in England in the year to March 2024, Department for Education data shows.
Despite saying he was a witch, under pressure from the pastor and his relatives, Mardoche never believed he was one, even as a child.
He says his family tried to take him out of school to go to DR Congo for “deliverance”, prompting authorities to intervene. He later moved in with his foster mother, who appears in the film playing herself.
Mardoche says he forgave those who accused him of witchcraft “a long time ago”.
“I don’t hate people… I was just disappointed with them, how they did things,” he says.
“It’s a lesson to be learned. If they watch this. I don’t want them to see it as an attack towards them.”
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Director Penny says she “didn’t have to exaggerate anything” in Kindoki Witch Boy – starring 14-year-old Jeriah Kibusi in the lead role – because “there was no reason to”.
“Lots of people understood that this was happening but… it’s not talked about, in a way. This is the whole problem,” she says.
“It just makes me really sad that right now we’re sitting here and some children are there thinking that they’re witches, or being accused of (witchcraft).
“I just think it’s really pathetic as a society, we can’t stand up for these children and speak out for them.”
Mardoche says he was initially reluctant to watch the film as his worst experiences were retold on screen, but after watching the final edit, he says: “It moved me.”
He now wants the “powerful” film to give “hope” to anyone facing witchcraft accusations today.
Kindoki Witch Boy is available to watch on YouTube here.
Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email [email protected] in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK.
You can hear more about Mardoche’s story on UK Tonight with Sarah-Jane Mee from 8pm.
