Kenyan investigators discovered 29 more bodies on Friday, bringing the death toll to 179 from the “Shakahola massacre” in a forest in southeast Kenya, where a cult whose leader advocated fasting met to “meet Jesus”.
• Also read: Kenya ‘Shakahola massacre’: bodies without organs, say investigators
• Also read: Two Kenyan pastors in court over ‘Shakahola massacre’
• Also read: Cult in Kenya: Influential pastor suspected of connection to ‘Shakahola massacre’
Police believe most of the bodies found near the seaside town of Malindi are members of the sect of Paul Nthenge Mackenzie, a former taxi driver and self-proclaimed Good News International Church “pastor”. . that he created.
The prefect of Rhoda Onyancha region, who announced the latest assessment, added that no one was rescued in this forested region on Friday.
Heavy rain last week interrupted search and exhumation work, which only resumed on Tuesday.
About 25 people, including Mr Mackenzie and Schlager, who were tasked with making sure no devotees broke their fast or fled the forest, had been arrested, Ms Onyancha said.
A court on Wednesday ordered Paul Nthenge Mackenzie’s continued detention.
The Mombasa (southeast) judge ordered the extension of the detention of “Pastor” Mackenzie and 17 co-defendants, including his wife, by a period of 30 days from May 2, the date they appeared before the tribunal. The 50-year-old “pastor” turned himself in to the police on April 14.
Autopsies performed on the first bodies indicate that most of the victims died of starvation, probably after following the sermons of Paul Nthenge Mackenzie.
However, some of the victims, including children, were strangled, beaten or suffocated, forensic chief Johansen Oduor said recently.
The autopsies also revealed that “some of the bodies were missing organs,” according to the CID, suggesting “a well-coordinated organ trade involving multiple actors.”
However, Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki urged caution on the matter, saying it was “a theory that we are investigating”.
This massacre has reignited debate over church surveillance in Kenya, a predominantly Christian country with 4,000 “churches,” according to officials.
President William Ruto has set up a task force to “review the legal and regulatory framework for religious organizations.”