Kindiki warns Shakahola deaths could rise exponentially as autopsies reveal missing body organs
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Shakahola exhumation process resumes as Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki warns of more bodies in the forest
Shakahola exhumation process resumes as Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki warns of more bodies in the forest.
Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki has warned that the government might exhume more bodies in the Shakahola forest.
Speaking during the resumption of the exhumation exercise, the Interior CS disclosed that the detectives had begun opening up 20 graves.
“The damage is quite significant. 20 mass graves are currently being opened. The process is far from over,” Kindiki said on Tuesday, May 9.
In addition, Kindiki termed the Shakahola cult deaths as a highly organized crime adding that the exercise will take longer than expected as the number of graves discovered were many.
“I am afraid that we have many more graves in this forest, and therefore it leads us to conclude that this was a highly organized crime and I assure the country that the government will do whatever it takes to unravel this organized criminal activity,” Kindiki said.
Kindiki reiterated that the government was determined to unravel what might have caused the Shakahola deaths, where followers of controversial pastor Paul Mackenzie were reportedly asked to fast to death.
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Meanwhile, autopsies on corpses have revealed missing organs and raised suspicions of forced harvesting, investigators said.
While starvation appears to be the main cause of death, some of the victims – including children – were strangled, beaten, or suffocated, according to the chief government pathologist Johansen Oduor.
Court documents filed on Monday said that some of the corpses had their organs removed, with police alleging that the suspects were engaged in the forced harvesting of body parts.
“Post-mortem reports have established missing organs in some of the bodies of victims who have been exhumed,” chief inspector Martin Munene said in an affidavit filed to a Nairobi court.
It is “believed that trade on human body organs has been well coordinated involving several players,” he said, giving no details about the suspected trafficking.
A total of 112 people have so far been confirmed dead, interior minister Kithure Kindiki said Tuesday.
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