Monday’s exhumations in the Shakahola woodland in Kenya turned up seven more dead.
Seven more bodies were unearthed on Monday as exhumations proceeded in a woodland in Kenya where hundreds of victims of a doomsday cult were discovered buried the previous year.
There have now been 436 individuals recovered from the mass graves.
Last year, the authorities put a stop to the exhumations so that the bodies’ DNA could be matched. Just 34 of the victims have been recognized thus far.
Pastor Paul Mackenzie was arrested after the first bodies were found in the Shakahola forest near the Kenyan coast in April 2023. Mackenzie is accused of forcing his followers to starve themselves to death so they may “meet Jesus.”
Mackenzie has entered a not guilty plea to 191 charges involving terrorism, manslaughter, and murder. He is also accused of abusing and torturing children.
The case alarmed the majority-Christian country of Kenya and raised awareness to the lax laws governing cults and churches.
