Image: YASUYOSHI CHIBA (AFP)
The total number of victims discovered so far has thus risen to 303. Around two months after the first bodies were found, a 15,000-hectare piece of forest is being searched for mass graves. Initial autopsies revealed that most of the cult’s victims starved to death. Some of the victims, including children, were strangled, beaten to death or suffocated.
According to police, most of the victims found so far belonged to Paul Nthenge Mackenzie’s sect. According to the investigation, he is said to have asked the followers of his Christian sect “International Church of the Good News” to starve to death “in order to meet Jesus”. Cult leader Mackenzie has been in prison since mid-April. He is accused of “terrorism”.
In light of the grisly case, a debate has flared up in Kenya about rules for practicing religion. According to official information, there are around 4,000 different religious movements in the predominantly Christian country, which call themselves “churches”.
Source: Nachrichten
