As part of their investigation into a preacher who allegedly advised followers to starve to death, Kenyan police have excavated 47 dead bodies close to the seaside town of Malindi.
Children’s bodies were among the dead. Exhumations, according to the police, continue.
The Shakahola forest contains shallow graves and this was the forest from where 15 members of the Good News International Church were rescued last week.
Paul Makenzie Nthenge, the pastor of the church, is being held in detention pending his court date. He was referred to as a “cult leader” by the state radio KBC, who also noted that 58 burials had so far been located.
Three children and their parents are thought to be buried in one of the graves together with two other family members.
Despite Nthenge’s denial of culpability, his bail was denied. He remains adamant that his church closed down in 2019. He allegedly advised followers to starve themselves in order to “meet Jesus”.
The Standard, a Kenyan newspaper, reported that pathologists will collect DNA samples and run tests to ascertain whether the victims’ causes of death were malnutrition. On April 15, after finding the bodies of four people they believed had starved to death, police detained Nthenge.
“When we are in this forest and come to an area where we see a big and tall cross, we know that means more than five people are buried there,” Victor Kaudo of the Malindi Social Justice Centre told Citizen TV.
Kithure Kindiki, the interior minister for Kenya, claimed that the 800 acres of woodland had been completely cordoned off and designated a crime scene.
According to The Standard, Nthenge allegedly called three villages Nazareth, Bethlehem, and Judea and baptised followers in ponds before instructing them to fast.
Kenya is a religious nation, and there have been instances in the past where individuals were persuaded to join hazardous, unmonitored churches or cults.
