Kenya cult deaths: In a shocking incident, police exhumed at least 110 bodies near the coastal town of Kenya's Malindi after villagers complained against a preacher for practising a religious "cult" wherein people were lured to starve till death. The official number of victims had been at 103 until Monday and could rise as the investigation continues, news agency AP reported.
According to the police, the preacher, Paul Mackenzie Nthenge, asked their followers to push themselves into starvation in order "to meet Jesus". Later, police arrest another pastor Ezekiel Odero for forcing people to such painful deaths.
As per the reports, the shallow graves are in Shakahola forest, where 15 members of the Good News International Church were rescued last month.
Over 100 graves have been identified
Meanwhile, KBC, a state broadcaster, described Nthenge as a "cult leader", and reported that over 100 graves have so far been identified. Also, the police claimed they were expecting more bodies.
Heavy rains stalled the exhumation process for the third day as government pathologists began autopsies.
According to the Kenyan Interior Ministry, five people have been found alive over the last two days by searches and aerial surveillance of the 50,000-acre Chakama ranch.
President vows for a judicial commission
The autopsies began a day after President William Ruto announced that his government would soon establish a judicial commission of inquiry to investigate the deaths.
Opposition leader Raila Odinga said Monday that the Kenyan parliament should “establish whether the deaths ... were acts of rogue pastors, human sacrifices or body-organ trade.”
Leaders from the region and human rights organizations have criticized the government’s slow pace of rescues, and its denying journalists and activists access to the forest.
Preacher claims he had shut down his church in 2019
Local media reported that the police arrested him on April 15 after discovering the bodies of four people suspected of having starved themselves to death. When police asked the preacher about his religious practices, he denied any wrongdoings and claimed he had shut down his church around four years ago.
Meanwhile, the pathologists will take DNA samples, The Standard reported and added they will conduct tests to determine whether the victims died of starvation.
It is worth mentioning that this was not the first time that such a gruesome development shook the whole world. Kenya is a religious country and there have been previous cases of people being lured into dangerous, unregulated churches or cults.
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