According to witnesses, Kenyan police have commenced the process of identifying and marking the locations of over a dozen suspected graves in the eastern part of the country. These graves are believed to contain the remains of followers of a Christian cult who held the belief that they would ascend to heaven by voluntarily starving themselves to death.
As captured in footage broadcasted by Citizen TV, on Thursday, homicide detectives were seen marking out sections of bare earth with sticks and yellow tape in Shakahola forest, located in Kilifi county, Kenya. This comes after the recent rescue of 15 members of the Good News International Church from the same location by the police.
Paul Mackenzie, the pastor of the Good Shepherd Universal congregation, was taken into detention thanks to a tip. The tip-off also pointed to the likely existence of possible shallow graves, thought to include not fewer than 31 of Mackenzie’s adherents.
The 15 worshipers who were rescued, according to the police, were instructed to starve and perish so they might see their creator. The hospital was not reached by four of them.
Matthew Shipeta from Haki Africa, a human rights group, has reported witnessing the existence of at least 15 shallow graves in the Shakahola forest, corroborating the suspicion of graves belonging to the followers of the Good News International Church.
In the previous month, Paul Mackenzie was arrested and subsequently released by the police in connection with the deaths of two boys in Magarini, located in Kilifi county. In an affidavit dated March 23, the police stated that the parents of the two boys had allegedly followed Mackenzie’s advice to starve and suffocate their children.