Wolves Among the Sheep > Hundreds of Christians murdered or suicided in Kenyan cult

 

Kenyan cult leader faces terrorism charges

for mass starvation deaths

Kenyan doomsday cult leader Paul Nthenge Mackenzie appeared in court in the Indian Ocean port city of Mombasa on Monday at the start of a high-profile trial over the starvation deaths of more than 400 of his followers. Mackenzie faces terrorism charges and is also accused of murder, manslaughter, kidnapping, and torturing children, along with 94 other defendants.

Issued on: 08/07/2024 - 12:38

2 min

By:NEWS WIRES

The leader of a Kenyan doomsday cult went on trial on Monday on charges of terrorism over the deaths of more than 400 of his followers in a macabre case that shocked the world.

Self-proclaimed pastor Paul Nthenge Mackenzie appeared in court in the Indian Ocean port city of Mombasa along with 94 co-defendants, an AFP journalist said.

Journalists were removed from the courtroom shortly after the start of the hearing to enable a protected witness to take the stand.

Mackenzie, who was arrested in April last year, is alleged to have incited his acolytes to starve to death in order to "meet Jesus".

He and his co-accused all pleaded not guilty to the charges of terrorism at a hearing in January.

They also face charges of murder, manslaughter, kidnapping, and child torture and cruelty in separate cases.

The remains of more than 440 people have been unearthed so far in a remote wilderness inland from the Indian Ocean coastal town of Malindi, in a case that has been dubbed the "Shakahola forest massacre".

Autopsies have found that while starvation appeared to be the main cause of death, some of the victims -- including children -- were strangled, beaten, or suffocated.

Previous court documents also said that some of the bodies had had their organs removed.

Police accused of laxity

Mackenzie, a former taxi driver, turned himself in on April 14 after police acting on a tip-off first entered Shakahola forest, where mass graves have been found.

In March, the authorities began releasing some victims' bodies to distraught relatives after months of painstaking work to identify them using DNA.

Questions have been raised about how Mackenzie, a self-styled pastor with a history of extremism, managed to evade law enforcement despite his prominent profile and previous legal cases.

Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki last year accused Kenyan police of laxity in investigating the initial reports of starvation.

"The Shakahola massacre is the worst breach of security in the history of our country," he told a senate committee hearing, vowing to "relentlessly push for legal reforms to tame rogue preachers".

The state-backed Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) in March criticised security officers in Malindi for "gross abdication of duty and negligence".

The horrific saga has seen President William Ruto vow to intervene in Kenya's homegrown religious movements.

In largely Christian Kenya, it has also thrown a spotlight on failed efforts to regulate unscrupulous churches and cults that have dabbled in criminality.

(AFP)

Mass ‘Religious’ Suicide, or Murder? 11 Bodies Found in India’s Capital

A policeman writes notes in the house where the bodies of eleven members of a family were found dead © Stringer / Reuters

An Indian family of 11 has been found dead in New Delhi, with 10 members blindfolded and hanging from a ceiling. Initial reports indicate a twisted spiritual mass suicide attempt, but police aren’t discounting other possibilities.

The bodies of seven women and four men were discovered in the Burari suburb of the Indian capital on Sunday by their neighbor, who called the police in shock over what he has witnessed.

When authorities arrived at the scene, they discovered 10 blindfolded bodies, with cotton stuffed in their ears, hanging from an iron grille in the home’s courtyard, suspended by cables and 'chunnis' (scarves with religious motifs), local media report. The body of an 11th person, reportedly in her seventies, was found strangled and lying on the floor of the house.

The victims, which police say belonged to a single family, are believed to have committed a mass religious suicide, as authorities failed to discover any forced entry, gunshot wounds, or anything that would clearly indicate a homicide.

Instead, according to reports, law enforcement discovered handwritten notes, which indicated that the family had meticulously prepared for the “mass salvation” and had carefully examined ways of hanging themselves. No suicide notes were found at the scene. Only a dog inside the house survived the mass murder.

Based on the evidence, the victims were in “observance of some definite spiritual or mystical practices,” police said in a statement, according to AP. “Coincidentally, these notes have strong similarity with the manner in which the mouths, eyes, etc. of the deceased were tied and taped,” the statement added.

While police await the autopsy reports on the victims, including two 15-year-old boys, authorities have not discounted homicide as a possible cause of death. Treating the incident as a murder case, law enforcement teams are now analyzing call records from the victims' mobiles for possible clues and are interviewing witnesses. “It is still too early (to know what happened). It is an ongoing investigation and we haven't ruled out anything,” a police source told AFP.

According to one version of the events, shared with India Today by an anonymous police source, the mass suicide unfolded after family members were served sedatives with their dinner. Then at least one of the family allegedly proceeded to blindfold the rest of the unconscious victims before hanging them.