Kenyan investigators Friday exhumed 29 more bodies as part of an ongoing search for victims of a religious sect that advocates killing oneself as a way of salvation in the southeast of the country.
The death toll from the “fasting to enter paradise” ritual has so far reached 179.
This week, authorities searched for remains in shallow graves dotted throughout the Chakahola Forest and for any survivors, as there are still hundreds of people reported missing.
On Wednesday, a Kenyan court refused bail to Paul Mackenzie, leader of the Good News International Church, who is accused of ordering his followers to starve their children and themselves to death in order to enter heaven before the end of the hour.
Local official Rhoda Onyansha said the search had expanded to other parts of the forest on Friday.
Exhumations will resume on Saturday, according to Reuters.
A gravedigger at the exhumation site, who asked Reuters not to be named, said that among the bodies exhumed on Friday were 12 children.
McKenzie has not yet been asked to file a petition.
His lawyer said he was cooperating with the Kenyan police in their investigations.
Last April, the Kenya Red Cross said that more than 200 people had been reported missing to a tracing and counseling office it set up at a local hospital.
It is noteworthy that the leader of the sect, Paul Mackenzie, was arrested on April 14, after a report indicated the existence of surface graves containing the bodies of at least 31 of his followers.
Earlier, Kenyan President William Ruto said that McKenzie’s teachings are incompatible with any religion.
“Mr Mackenzie… pretends to be a priest when in fact he is a hideous criminal,” he added, in a speech at an unrelated public event outside Nairobi.
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2023-05-13 04:05:18
