2023-05-01 13:29:15
After the discovery of a mass grave of suspected cult members in a forest in Kenya, forensic scientists have started autopsiing the bodies. “The process will probably take a week,” Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki said on Monday in the coastal town of Malindi. Investigators are also taking DNA samples to help identify the bodies, the government’s chief pathologist, Johansen Oduor, said.
More than a hundred bodies had been found in the Shakahola forest in the past few days. Most of the victims are children. Cult leader Paul Mackenzie Nthenge is suspected of starving followers of his so-called International Church of the Good News. He turned himself in to the police in mid-April and is in custody. He is due to appear in court on Tuesday.
Interior Minister Kindiki announced on Friday that initial reports suggested that not all people had died of hunger. Other methods “including injuries” were used.
The discovery of the bodies caused horror in Kenya, above all because the prominent TV preacher Ezekiel Odero, another sect leader, is due to appear in court on Tuesday for the alleged “mass killing” of his followers. He was arrested on Thursday. Prosecutors say they have “credible information” linking Odero’s actions to those of self-proclaimed pastor Paul Mackenzie Nthenge.
More than 4,000 churches are registered in mainly Christian Kenya. Attempts to put a stop to fraudsters and charlatans have so far failed due to the accusation that this violates religious freedom.
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