Kenyan Court Orders Exhumation in Suspected Cult Deaths

A Kenyan court has mandated the exhumation of bodies suspected to belong to victims of starvation and suffocation in Kilifi County, where a doomsday cult operated. Prosecutors are investigating 11 suspects potentially linked to the case, involving the same area where a major cult disaster unfolded two years prior.

A Kenyan court has ordered the exhumation of bodies believed to have been victims of starvation and suffocation in Kilifi County. This area is notorious for a previous doomsday cult incident that left hundreds dead. Prosecutors have identified 11 suspects in the recent case.

Prosecutors suspect that extreme religious ideologies led to the deaths. Over 400 bodies were previously exhumed from the adjacent Shakahola Forest, where cult leader Paul Mackenzie allegedly instructed followers to starve themselves. Mackenzie denies these grave accusations.

The new exhumations are to undergo postmortem, DNA testing, and toxicological analysis. Earlier this year, police also rescued 57 frail individuals and uncovered two bodies in a western Kenyan church.

(With inputs from agencies.)