Where are the bodies of slain sect members?

Last month, the police announced that they had killed 37 suspects during the crackdown on Mungiki in Mathare slums. The sect’s leaders placed the death toll at more than 100. But Mathare residents and human rights organisations can only account for 14 bodies.

three families of those killed during the Kosovo operation sought assistance from the Independent Legal Medico Unit and the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR).

The family of Samuel Macharia, a 17-year-old schoolboy who was among those killed on the night of June 5, is said to have hurriedly buried him the day after his mother approached KNCHR with an appeal for a second post mortem. Macharia’s mother Mary Gathiga claimed the Standard Seven pupil at Genesis Primary School in Kitasuru village was shot dead in her house as he prepared a meal for sale. He was buried on June 16, at his father’s farm in Kangema, Murang’a.

Killed in house

Mr Christopher Kimani Muturi, a 40-year-old mason who was also killed during the police operation, was buried in Murang’a the same day. One of his two widows, Agnes Wangui, claimed he was shot in their house. She also suffered a fracture on her hand. The family buried him without protest.

Mr John Wachira, a 27-year-old sugar cane hawker, was buried in Lang’ata Cemetery on June 20. His family claimed he was shot in his house in Kosovo.

Another victim, Mr Joseph Chalo Migwi, 26, who was a mechanic at Ngara market, was buried on June 19 in Kiambwe village in Kirinyaga.

Other victims were Mr John Ng’ang’a Kanjeru, Mr Michael Mwenda and Mr Julius Mburu, whose families declined the assistance offered by KNCHR and IMLU.

Kosovo residents do not know of any other people killed by police during the police operation.

“We only saw it in the papers and television that 39 people were killed in the operation, but there have not been as many funeral arrangements within Kosovo as the numbers given by police. We do not know how many people were killed,” said Mr Daniel Kung’u. Only the seven bodies were received at the City Mortuary.

The Sunday Nation confirmed that no unidentified bodies were taken to Chiromo Mortuary or any other facility in the city. And there haven not been any mass burials recently.

Acquitted

No one has visited the City Mortuary to look for the bodies of missing relatives. No family other than that of Mr Kimani Ruo, who was arrested immediately after being acquitted of illegal possession of a firearm and drug trafficking charges, has come forward to report any persons missing.

This raises the question of how many people were actually killed in the police operation in Mathare.

Police Spokesman Mr Eric Kiraithe, who announced the Kosovo death toll, could not account for the missing bodies. Security expert Capt (Rtd) Simiyu Werunga believes that police exaggerated the number of casualties to scare criminal gangs.

“I think the police are sending a message to criminals that they can and will use whatever methods they have to maintain law and order,” he said. Others suspect that police knew the people they were looking for and declared them dead before they had actually been killed. Human rights organisations want the Government to account for the missing bodies of suspected Mungiki members allegedly killed in Mathare in June.

“We want the police to account for the missing bodies,” said KNCHR commissioner in charge of security, Mr Omar Hassan Omar.

IMLU and KNCHR staff visited Kosovo and Murang’a where police claimed to have killed Mungiki members. In Murang’a, five more bodies were recovered after police ambushed a suspected Mungiki oathing ceremony in Gikui village.

The officers claimed to have killed seven suspects while others escaped with bullet wounds. The commission has not established the number of people killed but 25 bodies were found in various mortuaries in Nyeri and Kerugoya following the shooting last Sunday.

Read Another Article

Kin sent hippie shoot suspect cash, says DA
Kenyan government admits wiping out Mungiki not easy

Related News Articles Topic(s): Mungiki Subscribe to Religion News Blog updates Subscribe to Religion News Blog [What is this?] Get Religion News Blog's headline by Email [What is this?] Follow Religion News Blog at Twitter Find Related Information Use our custom search engines to find additional research resources on religions and cults: ApologeticsSearch.com: Search for apologetics articles, books, videos, and other research resources across 135 Christian apologetics websites and blogs. CounterCultSearch.com: Search for information about (religious) cults, cult-like organizations, and cults experts -- as well as paranormal-, New Age, and pseudoscientific claims -- across 260+ websites, blogs and forums dedicated to cult research, spiritual abuse, ex-cult counseling & support. Find Related Religion & Spirituality Books at Amazon.com Mungiki Possibly related... or Most Popular Religion News Articles Kent Hovind: Evangelist arrested on federal charges Beast’s real mark devalued to ’616′ Muslim Woman Gives Sex Advice on Arab TV Michael Jackson Confirms Conversion to Islam Kent Hovind, ‘Dr. Dino,’ guilty on all counts The fall and rise of Carlton Pearson Search False prophet Harold Camping sets another date for rapture: May 21, 2011 Watch the film Theo van Gogh was murdered for Kent Hovind — Dr. Dino — sentenced to 10 years in prison

Search Religion News Blog