Police in Malindi, Kilifi County on Thursday rescued 11 people who were allegedly manipulated into fasting until death by zealot pastor Paul Makenzie Nthenge of the Good News International Church.
Nthenge became a person of interest in late March after he was linked to the deaths of two children who were allegedly starved to death by their parents believed to have been acting on advice from the extremist spiritual leader.
Despite being subsequently charged in court, Nthenge was released on a Ksh.10,000 police bond.
According to a police report seen by Citizen Digital, the 11 were part of 15 people found participating in the excessive practice, at Shakahola forest in Langobaya, by detectives acting on a tip-off from a concerned resident.
The whistleblower reported the matter at Langobaya Police Station while also alleging that there was a shallow mass grave within the forest containing at least 31 dead persons, who were part of Nthenge’s flock.
“A contingent under the command of SCPC and SCCIO Malindi visited the scene for fact-finding. The team was able to reach few households and managed to rescue fifteen people among them six who were emaciated,” reads the police report.
“Medics from Malindi Sub-County Hospital were called in to assist in the evacuation.”
Four of the victims, who have yet to be identified, however, passed away while medics attended to them owing to their starved state.
The survivors have since been admitted to Malindi Sub-County Hospital, with three of them in critical condition.
The bodies of the deceased persons were also taken to the facility’s mortuary pending identification and post-mortem.
Police were however unable to verify the existence of the mass grave owing to the forest’s vastness and hostile residents.
