Kenyan court orders exhumations in suspected cult-related deaths
A Kenyan court has ordered the exhumation of bodies believed to be linked to suspected cult-related killings in Kilifi County, the same region where more than 400 members of a doomsday cult were discovered dead two years ago, prosecutors said on Wednesday.
The bodies in the new case are thought to be buried in shallow graves on the outskirts of Malindi in southeastern Kenya. Eleven suspects are under investigation, according to Kenya's Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP), News.Az reports, citing Reuters.
"Investigators suspect multiple individuals were murdered through starvation and suffocation," the ODPP said in a statement on X. "The victims may have been starved and suffocated as a result of adopting and promoting extreme religious ideologies."
The discovery has revived memories of the 2023 Shakahola Forest tragedy, one of the world’s worst cult-related disasters, where hundreds of bodies were exhumed. Prosecutors in that case accused cult leader Paul Mackenzie of ordering followers to starve themselves and their children to death in order to "go to heaven" before the world ended. Mackenzie, who faces charges of murder and terrorism, has denied the accusations.
Authorities said the latest investigation began after several children in the area were reported missing and unaccounted for. The court has ordered that the exhumations be followed by postmortem examinations, DNA testing and toxicology analysis to determine the cause of death.
The case underscores the continued threat posed by extremist religious groups in the country. In April, Kenyan police recovered two bodies and rescued 57 emaciated worshippers from a church in western Kenya.
Similar news
