Malindi court in Kenya orders bodies exhumations cult-related deaths

A Malindi court in Kenya has authorized the exhumation of bodies believed to be victims of starvation and suffocation in southeastern Kenya’s Kilifi County, near the town of Malindi.

According to the prosecutors, these graves are located near Malindi, in the same region where over 400 bodies were previously exhumed in 2023 in a major cult-related tragedy known as the Shakahola Forest Massacre.

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The Shakahola Forest Massacre revealed that a cult had led hundreds to their deaths through extreme and dangerous religious practices.

Kenya’s Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions said on X that the bodies in the new case are believed to be buried in shallow graves on the outskirts of Malindi in southeastern Kenya’s Kilifi County, and 11 suspects are being investigated.

It added, “Investigators suspect multiple individuals were murdered through starvation and suffocation. The victims may have been starved and suffocated as a result of adopting and promoting extreme religious ideologies.”

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The court has ordered that these new exhumations be followed by crucial forensic tests—including autopsies, DNA analyses, and toxicology—to uncover the exact causes of death and to identify the victims.

The investigation was sparked after locals raised alarms about missing children and graves found in shallow burial sites around Malindi.

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Eleven suspects, Jairus Otieno Odere, Kahonzi Katana Karisa, Lilian Akinyi, Loice Zawadi, Safari Kenga Nzai, Karisa Gona Fondo, Gona Charo Kalama, James Kahindi, Kahindi Kazungu Garama, Thomas Mukonwe, and Sharleen Temba Anido, are currently under investigation, as authorities try to understand the full extent of this horror.