The killing of 23-month-old tod­dler Aki­ni Kafi, along­side two men in Bel­mont on Thurs­day, the sec­ond child-linked tragedy to rock Trinidad and To­ba­go in un­der two months, has trig­gered re­newed alarm among re­li­gious lead­ers.

Speak­ing with Guardian Me­dia yes­ter­day, the re­li­gious lead­ers warned that the na­tion is spi­ralling in­to a deep moral, spir­i­tu­al and so­cial cri­sis fu­elled by vi­o­lence, law­less­ness and a col­lapse in com­mu­ni­ty val­ues.

Pres­i­dent of the In­ter-Re­li­gious Or­gan­i­sa­tion (IRO) of Trinidad and To­ba­go, Dr El­lis Har­ri­son Bur­ris, said the tragedy re­flects a fail­ure in the na­tion’s spir­i­tu­al and hu­man de­vel­op­ment, while call­ing for ex­pand­ed out­reach and ed­u­ca­tion pro­grammes through church­es and re­li­gious bod­ies.