2023-04-29 18:11:51
A Kenyan religious leader admitted this Saturday that 15 members of his sect died during spiritual interventions. The deaths took place in the same location where, last week, more than 100 corpses were found on another leader’s farm.
It is the second case in less than two weeks in which members of religious sects have died in Kenya, fasting, whose purpose, according to promoters, is to go to heaven.
In this case, it was the religious leader himself, named Ezekiel Odero, who admitted that 15 followers of the Prayer Center and Church for a New Life had lost their lives. However, his lawyers claim that the deceased were already in critical condition when they arrived at the sect.
Odero’s defenders also advance that, in each death, the authorities were informed, however the Police does not seem convinced with these arguments and kept Odero in preventive detention.
Next Tuesday, the court will decide whether to be released or to spend another 30 days in prison.
The investigation into Odero is expected to lead to charges of murder, kidnapping, radicalization, genocide, crimes against humanity, child cruelty, fraud and money laundering.
Kenyan President William Ruto said on Monday that deaths linked to the sect were “akin to terrorism” and vowed to toughen up action against cults that misrepresent religion.
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