Autopsies begin on Kenyan cult members who starved to death

Kenyan authorities say they’ll test whether or not a number of the 109 our bodies recovered up to now had lacking organs.

Pathologists in Kenya have begun autopsies on greater than 100 our bodies linked to a spiritual cult whose chief allegedly had instructed them to starve themselves to dying to be the primary to go to heaven, officers say.

100 and 9 followers of the Good Information Worldwide Church, based mostly within the Shakahola Forest of japanese Kenya, are recognized to have died. Authorities have recovered 101 our bodies from shallow graves since April 21 whereas eight cult members have been discovered alive however died later. Thus far, 44 individuals have been rescued.

Youngsters account for a lot of the our bodies recovered up to now, Inside Minister Kithure Kindiki stated on Friday.

“We’re going to be doing the autopsies in groups,” Chief Authorities Pathologist Johansen Oduor, who’s main the postmortem examinations, stated at a information convention on Monday, the day the autopsies started.

Oduor stated the federal government was accumulating DNA samples from those that had reported lacking kin and would do the matching in a course of that will take no less than a month.

Kindiki stated the autopsies will take a look at all potentialities, together with whether or not some our bodies had lacking organs.

The deaths quantity to one of many worst cult-related tragedies in latest historical past, and the toll is anticipated to rise additional with the Kenyan Crimson Cross saying greater than 300 individuals have been reported lacking.

The stunning discovery is being known as the Shakahola Forest Bloodbath by authorities officers.

Hussein Khalid, a member of Haki Africa, the rights group that tipped off the police to the actions of the church, advised the AFP information company that he believed some church members have been nonetheless hiding from the authorities within the close by forest.

“This signifies the magnitude of this concern that clearly exhibits that there are nonetheless many who’re nonetheless on the market … and probably dying each second that passes by,” Khalid stated.

He referred to as on the federal government to ship troopers to assist with the search so believers may very well be discovered earlier than they starve themselves to dying.

Cult chief Paul Mackenzie has been in police custody since April 14, held alongside 14 cult members. Native media have reported that he’s refusing meals and water.

Mackenzie has made no public remark. The Reuters information company spoke to 2 attorneys performing for Mackenzie, however each declined to touch upon the accusations towards him.

On Sunday, President William Ruto stated he would appoint a judicial fee of inquiry this week to analyze what occurred in Shakahola.