On Wednesday, 15 new bodies were discovered. In the Shakaola Forest in the south-east of the country, a cult whose leader advocated fasting met to “meet Jesus.”
The death toll in the “Shakahola massacre” in a forest in south-east Kenya, where a cult whose leader advocated fasting to “encounter Jesus” met, now stands at 226 after 15 new bodies were discovered on Wednesday. announced the prefect of the region.
Police believe most of the bodies found near the seaside town of Malindi are members of the cult of Paul Nthenge Mackenzie, a former taxi driver and self-proclaimed Good News International Church “pastor”. . that he created.
At the end of the operations this Wednesday, “14 bodies were exhumed and one found in the forest,” said the region’s prefect, Rhoda Onyancha, adding that the rescuers had found another person alive.
Autopsies of the first 112 bodies indicate most of the victims starved to death, probably after following the sermons of Paul Nthenge Mackenzie, who is being prosecuted for “terrorism”.
Some victims were strangled, beaten or suffocated
However, some victims, including children, were strangled, beaten or suffocated, said forensic department head Johansen Oduor two weeks ago.
The autopsies also revealed that “some bodies were missing organs,” the CID said in a legal document viewed by our AFP colleagues on May 9, calling it “a well-coordinated human organ trade involving several actors were involved”. .
Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki had urged caution on the matter, saying it was “a theory that we are investigating”. “Mogue reports are still being finalized and I don’t want to preempt the case,” he continued.
About fifty mass graves
Paul Mackenzie has been arrested since he turned himself in to authorities on April 14 after police discovered the first victims in Shakahola Forest. Since then, about fifty mass graves have been discovered.
Kenya’s most influential pastor, Ezekiel Odero, was arrested in connection with the case on April 28 and later released on bail. He is under investigation because the bodies found in Shakahola may include the bodies of some of his followers. More than 20 bank accounts belonging to him were frozen.
This massacre has caused a stir in this religious East African country and reignited the debate over surveillance of worship in Kenya, a mostly Christian country with 4,000 “churches,” according to officials.
President William Ruto has established a task force to “review the legal and regulatory framework for religious organizations.”