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Children accounted for most of the 109 bodies now recovered in a mass grave linked to a cult in Kenya, the interior minister said on Friday, the latest details in a case that has rocked the country and called for stricter regulations on fringe religious groups.
Followers of the Good News International Church near the coastal town of Malindi are said to believe they will go to heaven if they starve.
“The reports we have received are that most of the recoveries are children… Children are the majority, followed by women. Men are less,” Home Affairs Minister Kithure Kindiki told reporters.
“The initial report we received is that some of the victims may not die of starvation. There are other methods used, including torturing them, just by physical and preliminary observation,” said Kindiki.
Kindiki, who named those behind the terrorist death, also announced the launch of an aerial search in the Shakahola forest, where the bodies were found and exhumed. He said the autopsy on the recovered bodies would begin on Monday.
The government will announce new measures governing churches next week, he said.
Dozens of bodies have been exhumed from suspected cult sites in Kenya. Investigators said the victims were told they would go to heaven if they starved to death.
The pastor was arrested
The leader of the Good News International Church, Paul Mackenzie, has been in police custody since April 14. Kenyan media said he was accused of persuading his followers to starve to death.
Mackenzie did not comment publicly. Reuters spoke to two lawyers acting for Mackenzie, but both declined to comment on the allegations.
On Thursday, the pastor of a nearby church, Ezekiel Odero, was arrested. He appeared in court in the coastal city of Mombasa on Friday, but was not charged and ordered to appear again on Tuesday. He remains in police custody.
A police document presented in court and seen by Reuters said police have established that several deaths were recorded at the Odero New Life Ministry between 2022 and 2023 and that the bodies may have been moved to Shakahola forest.
Police are investigating Odero for crimes including murder, assisted suicide, kidnapping and child cruelty, the document said.
As it happens6:31 a.mKenyan authorities have ignored warnings about death cults, human rights groups say
Dozens of lives could have been saved if Kenyan authorities acted more quickly to shut down the notorious Christian death cult, Victor Kaudo, executive director of the Malindi Center for Social Justice, told As It Happens host Nil Köksal.
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