A total of 429 bodies from last years Shakahola Forest massacre have been positively identified through DNA and are set to be released to their respective families for burial.
The DCI homicide officer in a report said that it was now upon the families to decide how to carry out the burial arrangements after a painful period of waiting for the bodies of their loved ones over delays in DNA profiling.
Last week The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights had stepped up for the families over the delay, accusing the authorities of withholding the results on the grounds of security.
“This is not delayed justice but also a violation of cultural rights under article 44 of the constitution to bury their relatives in a culturally dignified manner. People are anxious and need closure on the matter,” the KNCHR report said.
The Shakahola forest massacre involved a religious starvation cult where hundreds of bodies including children were discovered in shallow mass graves in a remote forest. Pastor Paul Mackenzie was the alleged religious leader who incited his followers to starve to death to meet Christ.
The starvation caused many deaths which came as a shock to the Kenyan nation.
429 bodies exhumed in the Shakahola massacre due for release having been positively identified through DNA