A police investigation into a Kenyan Christian cult has led to the discovery of 47 bodies thought to be those of cult members who believed they would go to heaven if they starved themselves to death.
Last week, Kenyan police exhumed dozens of bodies from shallow graves in a 325-hectare forest in the eastern county of Kilifi – land belonging to pastor and cult leader, Paul Mackenzie. Mackenzie, according to Al Jazeera, was arrested last month for allegedly encouraging the parents of two boys to starve and suffocate their children to death.
The search for more bodies continued through the weekend and yielded a further 26, bringing the total to 47, according to Charles Kamau, head of criminal investigations in eastern Kenya.
Mr Kamau told local media that the search would continue, not only for bodies but for survivors of the cult, some of whom have been found and are refusing to eat. Thus far, fifteen cult members have been rescued. However, four of them died before reaching hospital.
According to local police, rescued cult members had been told to starve themselves to death so that they could meet their creator.
Such is the religious conviction of the devotees that according to Hussein Khalid, a member of Haki Africa, the rights group who provided the original tip-off to police, one rescued cult member has refused to eat or be given first aid.
Mr Khalid told the AFP news agency that he believed some church members were still hiding from authorities ‘and possibly dying every second that passes by’.
Kenya’s Interior Minister, Kithure Kindiki, said in a statement that he would be visiting the site on Tuesday. He referred to the mass suicide as the ‘Shakahola Forest Massacre’ in a Sunday tweet.