What is Kindoki? It destroyed this man’s life… now his harrowing tale will leave you in tears

A young boy blamed for the deaths of his mother and sister has laid bare the horrific abuse he suffered at the hands of relatives – despite being totally innocent.

Mardoche was just 12 years old when he moved to north London from the Democratic Republic of Congo after his mother passed away while giving birth to his baby sister, who also died. 

What followed next became the stuff of nightmares.

Grieving Mardoche – who dreamed of playing for his beloved club Arsenal – was accused of being a ‘servant of Satan’ – and that ‘Kindoki’ was responsible.

He would be confined to his room without being allowed to eat or even go to the toilet. 

‘My uncle, he was drinking a lot, came in the bedsit that all of us shared. He would drink he would come out and say not nice things,’ Mardoche, now 33, told Barnardo’s’ Heard and Not Seen podcast in 2020. 

‘Kindoki’, the Congolese term for a witch or witchcraft, saw the teen taken out of school as he was made to deal with attempts to get rid of ‘evil spirits’.

On the same podcast, former National FGM Centre boss Leethen Bartholomew explained how kindoki can be linked to ‘misfortune’ within the family – in that family members will target a child and accuse them of witchcraft if they feel things aren’t going well for them.

He said many accusations of kindoki relate to children who are not seen as ‘normal’ – which can mean children with disabilities, children who wet the bed at night, or children born breach, among other things.

‘If you believe that your child is possessed or you believe that your child is a witch, that they have a psychic ability to harm people… you will want to do things to protect yourself and other people in your family,’ he said, speaking of how some families will deal with children they believe to be witches.

Often, family suspicions are further inflamed by pastors in the community who warn families about witches in their family and offer their support to exorcise the evil spirits – which is what Mardoche claims happened in his case. 

Mardoche’s story has been documented in the film Kindoki Witch Boy, which is directed by BAFTA-winning Penny Woolcock.

In the movie, one scene sees a passionate pastor exclaim during a service: ‘Kindoki eat human beings…They nourish themselves on human flesh.’

It then depicts a young Mardoche being targeted at church, as a pastor tells his relatives: ‘Satan is upon you and upon this family.’ 

Staring at a distressed Mardoche, he says: ‘It is a boy.’ 

Sobbing as he’s summoned by the pastor, Mardoche stands up to face him. The pastor tells him: ‘You are possessed. There is a spirit inside you. Don’t lie.’ 

Mardoche’s terrified family members watch on as the pastor tells him he is kindoki – thus marking the beginning of isolation and abuse for the young boy, who is still grieving for his mother.

As his family attempts to rid Mardoche of ‘evil spirits’, they confine him to his room and don’t allow him to leave to eat or even go to the toilet – leading him to urinate on the carpet in desperation in one scene.

The film also shows a distressing scene, based on Mardoche’s real experiences, in which he is exorcised by the pastor and bullied into admitting he is a witch.

The boy, surrounded by adults who scream at him to admit his powers, bursts into tears before eventually agreeing: ‘Ok I’m a witch.’

Speaking about the abuse he suffered as a child, Mardoche has previously revealed how he had nightmares and felt he was ‘hearing voices’ after being accused of being kindoki – to the point where he believed himself that he had been possessed. 

The film also portrays how Mardoche’s family successfully managed to take him out of school to have him ‘treated’ for the spirits that they believed had possessed him. 

Speaking to the Telegraph about his childhood, he recounted another scene in the film, which he says was also taken directly from his life. 

In the film, the pastor tells Mardoche that he was behind his mother and baby sisters’ deaths because he ‘sacrificed their bodies to the evil spirits that possessed him’.

‘[The pastor] said, “Do you know what happened to your mum?” And I was like “What are you talking about?” He said, “You made them suffer”.’

Initially tearfully protesting, Mardoche found it was later easier to ‘give in and tell them what they wanted to hear’.

‘I said “Yeah, I did that, I made them suffer, I sacrificed her.” [It] was really painful.’ 

It draws parallels with the horrific abuse case of Victoria Climbié, whose murder shocked the nation in 2000 and led to an overhaul of child protection laws in the UK. 

Victoria, who was born in the Ivory Coast, was tortured and murdered by her great aunt and great aunt’s boyfriend in a case that was linked to beliefs of witchcraft. At an inquiry into her death, a preacher who ‘exorcised’ Victoria admitted he had seen scars on her body but was told by her guardians that she had inflicted them upon herself because she was possessed. 

It comes as statistics reveal there were 2,000 social work reports in the UK in the year running to March 2024 directly associated with kindoki beliefs, according to the Department for Education.

Kindoki Witch Boy opens with a young, carefree Mardoche, played by Jeriah Kibusi, playing football with his peers in five-a-side cages in London – before he goes back to his home where he’s living with his aunt and uncle.

Mardoche, who was born and partially raised in the DRC, was sent to the UK when he was seven years old after the death of his mother. His father and six siblings remained in Congo. When he arrived, he lived with relatives whom he’d never met before, and was forced to call them ‘mum and dad’.

In the film, a young Mardoche appears shaken as his aunt tells him he ‘eats like a kindoki child’ and his inebriated uncle tells him he is ‘good for nothing’.

One particularly distressing scene sees Mardoche cornered in his room at night as his uncle, carrying a can of beer, bursts into his room and blames his nephew for his own misfortunes – something that can be associated with kindoki in Congolese culture.

In an uncomfortable scene, Mardoche’s teachers discuss the boy’s situation, with one educator warning they must be aware of ‘cultural sensitivities’ when dealing with his case.

She says: ‘Things that may seem odd in a Western context, they’re just dealt with very differently in other communities, but it doesn’t make them wrong.’ 

Looking back on the abuse he suffered Mardoche has said he didn’t think his teachers understood the reality of what was happening to him at home when they allowed him to be taken out of school. 

After being removed from school, Mardoche was taken into mental health institution from Monday to Friday, and was allowed to return home on weekends.

Mardoche’s suffering finally came to an end when a social worker stepped in to work on his case, before referring him to a foster carer.

Speaking to the Mirror, he revealed he forgave the family members who abused him and decided not to report them to the police.

As his story is made into a film, he hopes other children in the UK who are suffering from faith-based abuse will understand what’s happening to them isn’t normal – but that hope is on the horizon.

He said: ‘If I could say one thing to a child going through what I went through, I’d tell them, ‘You will be just fine’.’