Kenyan families weep for starvation cult victims as first bodies released | The Business Standard
Skip to main content
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Saturday
June 14, 2025

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
SATURDAY, JUNE 14, 2025
Kenyan families weep for starvation cult victims as first bodies released

Africa

Reuters
27 March, 2024, 11:25 am
Last modified: 27 March, 2024, 11:27 am

Related News

  • Kenya backs Morocco's autonomy plan for Western Sahara: joint statement
  • Shoe thrown at Kenya's President Ruto during rally
  • Syrian mass graves expose 'machinery of death' under Assad: top prosecutor
  • Fossil footprints in Kenya show two ancient human species coexisted
  • Kenya drops over $2.5 billion of Adani deals after US indictment

Kenyan families weep for starvation cult victims as first bodies released

The bodies of more than 400 followers of the Good News International Church have been exhumed from the Shakahola forest in southeastern Kenya since April 2023 in one of the world's worst cult-related tragedies of recent decades

Reuters
27 March, 2024, 11:25 am
Last modified: 27 March, 2024, 11:27 am
Relatives react after viewing the exhumed remains of Esther Biriya Masha who was a follower of the Christian cult named Good News International Church, who believed they would go to heaven if they starved themselves to death in Shakahola, as the authorities begin to hand over bodies to family members, at the Star Specialist hospital funeral home in Malindi, Kilifi county, Kenya 26 March 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya
Relatives react after viewing the exhumed remains of Esther Biriya Masha who was a follower of the Christian cult named Good News International Church, who believed they would go to heaven if they starved themselves to death in Shakahola, as the authorities begin to hand over bodies to family members, at the Star Specialist hospital funeral home in Malindi, Kilifi county, Kenya 26 March 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya

Bereaved relatives emerged weeping from a hospital mortuary in Kenya on Tuesday after recovering the remains of loved ones whose doomsday cult leader induced them to starve themselves, according to the authorities.

The bodies of more than 400 followers of the Good News International Church have been exhumed from the Shakahola forest in southeastern Kenya since April 2023 in one of the world's worst cult-related tragedies of recent decades.

Cult leader Paul Mackenzie handed himself over to police last April and is facing murder charges along with 29 others. All have pleaded not guilty. Mackenzie stands accused of telling his followers the end of the world was coming and they should kill themselves to be first in line to ascend to heaven.

The Business Standard Google News Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel

Only 35 bodies have been conclusively identified so far, adding to the anguish of hundreds of families waiting to lay their loved ones to rest.

A small number of bodies were the first to be handed over to families on Tuesday at a hospital mortuary in the town of Malindi. Relatives waited in single file before being let inside. Several of them emerged in floods of tears.

"I feel exhausted by the whole process," said Sylvanus Opodo, who had travelled from western Kenya to recover the body of his brother.

Opodo said the family could not afford appropriate transport for the remains, making an already difficult situation worse.

"They asked us to bring a hearse but we have no means to transport the remains of our brother," he said as he waited in the shade of a tree outside the mortuary.

Some of the remains were wheeled out in body bags and loaded into the backs of vehicles. Reporters and TV camera operators were kept a distance away.

Government officials have said the process of handing over the bodies was taking a long time because of exhumation, post-mortem and identification procedures. DNA testing has been used to identify some badly damaged remains.

But Roseline Odede, chairperson of the state-funded Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, said the process should be accelerated.

"Going at this rate, we are going to be here for 10 years, trying to identify the 390 plus bodies," she told reporters.

"I think the government must intentionally commit resources towards this process so that we are able to give closure to families."

Kenya / cult / Mass grave

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Burnt out cars and damaged buildings are all that’s left of this street in Ramat Gan Credit: AP
    Iran threatens to strike US, UK, and French bases if they help defend Israel
  • Logo of the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami. Photo: Collected
    Joint press briefing by Yunus, Tarique a breach of political norms, Jamaat says questioning CA's partiality
  • Tour operator Borsha Islam. Photo: Collected
    ‘Tour Expert’ admin Borsha Islam arrested over Bandarban tourist deaths

MOST VIEWED

  • Energy adviser Fouzul Kabir Khan with other government officials during a visit to Sylhet gas field on 13 June 2025. Photo: TBS
    I would disconnect gas supply to every home in Dhaka if I could: Energy adviser
  • BNP Acting Chairperson Tarique Rahman and Chief Adviser  Muhammad Yunus meet at Dorchester Hotel in London, UK on 13 June 2025. Photo: CA Press Wing
    National polls possible in 2nd week of February, agree Yunus, Tarique in 'historic' London meeting
  • Rescuers work at the scene of a damaged building in the aftermath of Israeli strikes, in Tehran, Iran, June 13, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
    Tehran retaliates with 100 drones after Israel strikes Iran's nuclear facilities, kills military leaders
  • From fact-checker to fact-checked: CA Press Wing’s turn in the hot seat
    From fact-checker to fact-checked: CA Press Wing’s turn in the hot seat
  • UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus
    Disclosure of unconfirmed Yunus-Starmer meeting shows ‘diplomatic imprudence’: Analysts
  • Flight AI 379 had landed. File Photo: Hindustan Times
    Day after Ahmedabad crash, Air India flight makes emergency landing in Thailand after bomb threat

Related News

  • Kenya backs Morocco's autonomy plan for Western Sahara: joint statement
  • Shoe thrown at Kenya's President Ruto during rally
  • Syrian mass graves expose 'machinery of death' under Assad: top prosecutor
  • Fossil footprints in Kenya show two ancient human species coexisted
  • Kenya drops over $2.5 billion of Adani deals after US indictment

Features

Photos: Collected

Kurtis that make a great office wear

1d | Mode
Among pet birds in the country, lovebirds are the most common, and they are also the most numerous in the haat. Photo: Junayet Rashel

Where feathers meet fortune: How a small pigeon stall became Dhaka’s premiere bird market

2d | Panorama
Illustration: Duniya Jahan/ TBS

Forget Katy Perry, here’s Bangladesh’s Ruthba Yasmin shooting for the moon

3d | Features
File photo of Eid holidaymakers returning to the capital from their country homes/Rajib Dhar

Dhaka: The city we never want to return to, but always do

5d | Features

More Videos from TBS

Iran's counterattack: US ambassador visits shelter 5 times

Iran's counterattack: US ambassador visits shelter 5 times

15m | TBS World
No trade war, this time US-China in mutual agreement

No trade war, this time US-China in mutual agreement

50m | Others
Putin engages in back-to-back calls with Iran and Israel leaders

Putin engages in back-to-back calls with Iran and Israel leaders

1h | TBS World
How mobile wallets are driving the rise of digital nano loans

How mobile wallets are driving the rise of digital nano loans

1h | TBS Insight
EMAIL US
contact@tbsnews.net
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Advertisement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2025
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net