Police on Tuesday recovered a total of 89 emaciated corpses from mass graves and rescued a total of 34 “weak and traumatized” individuals who were allegedly encouraged to starve themselves to gain salvation, Kenyan officials have stated.
Paul Mackenzie Nthege, the leader of Good News International Church, was arrested after Kenyan police received a tip that his 800-acre property within the Shakahola forest in eastern Kenya contained mass graves, CNN reported. Nthege allegedly taught his followers that if they starved themselves they would get into heaven.
“The purported use of the Bible to kill people, to cause widespread massacre of innocent civilians cannot be tolerated,” Kithure Kindiki, the Kenyan interior minister, said, according to the outlet.
Police have recovered 89 bodies from mass graves in a forest in eastern Kenya, believed to be linked to a cult that allegedly encouraged its followers to starve themselves to gain salvation. https://t.co/MGUamiWjrV
— CNN International (@cnni) April 25, 2023
Since the beginning of their investigation April 21, police have recovered 89 bodies, but are bracing themselves for more as the Kenya Red Cross announced that more than 200 missing persons have been reported.
“The number of family members who have come to report people missing has increased from 210 in the morning to 259 now (as of Tuesday afternoon). Out of this 259, 130 of them are children,” Hassan Musa, Regional Manager for Kenya’s Red Cross told CNN, adding that a local morgue in Malindi is beyond capacity.
Masa further revealed that those survivors who have been rescued from the forest were “very weak and traumatized.”
Though Nthege was arrested, his lawyer, George Kariuki told CNN he has yet to be charged with any crime, revealing that prosecutors have been given 14 days to investigate the case. “The court is of the opinion that he might interfere with investigations,” Kariuki explained to the outlet.
Kariuki further disclosed that he was not at liberty to comment on behalf of his client in regards to the allegations that he encouraged his followers to starve themselves. “I can’t disclose what my client is telling me without his express permission. I can’t know if there are people that died fasting … It’s only a post-mortem report that can advise that position, and of which none has been supplied,” he told CNN. (RELATED: ‘Terrible System’: North Korean Defector Who Nearly Starved To Death As A Child Rips Socialism)
“The government has nothing to hide,” he added.