The number of alleged members of a Christian sect that they fasted to death in a forest in southern Kenya to meet Jesus Christ has risen to 201 after authorities found 22 new bodies on Saturday, according to police.
Regional police commissioner for the Kenyan coast, Rhoda Onyancha, told the press that the operation will resume next Monday, after a week in which the number has not stopped increasing as progress is being made in the excavation of the mass graves, reports the EFE news agency.
Onyanch said another suspect was arrested on Saturday, bringing the total number of allegedly involved amount to 26.
The regional police commissioner also said the number of people reported missing had risen to 610 since Friday. Meanwhile, the number of people saved alive remains at 72.
Almost everyone killed in the so-called “Shakahola massacre” was exhumed from graves and mass graves found in that forest, except some who died in the hospital due to their serious condition.
Autopsies of more than a hundred bodies have shown this, even though they have all shown it signs of hungereven the corpses of at least three minors and one adult showed traces of strangulation and suffocation.
Similarly, the first findings of the Police suggest that the faithful were forced to continue fasting even if they wanted to leave it.
On Wednesday, the Shanzu court in the coastal city of Mombasa ordered a 30-day extension (starting May 3) of the detention of the cult leader who allegedly persuaded victims to fast, Pastor Paul Mackenzie Nthenge, along with his wife and 16 other suspects.
On 2 May, Nthenge and the other detainees were released from the court in the tourist coastal city of Malindi, after the prosecutor’s office indicated its intention to press charges against them for terrorism, for which that court declared itself incompetent.
However, the pastor and his henchmen were arrested minutes later and taken to Shanzu Court, about 120 kilometers away, where the police unsuccessfully applied for permission to detain them for another 90 days.
Last week, Kenyan President William Ruto appointed a commission of inquiry chaired by Judge Jessie Lesiit to clarify the facts and determine any administrative or security negligence that may have occurred.
Nthenge, in police custody since April 14, leads the Good News International Church.
The parish priest had already been arrested last March after being accused of the deaths of two children in similar circumstances, but was released on bail.
Source: Clarin
Mary Ortiz is a seasoned journalist with a passion for world events. As a writer for News Rebeat, she brings a fresh perspective to the latest global happenings and provides in-depth coverage that offers a deeper understanding of the world around us.
