A shocking information has been received from Kenya. A cult has sprung up at the self-proclaimed Good News International Church in a forested area of Nairobi, whose pastor has said that if we die of hunger, we will find heaven. Hundreds of tribals started implementing such religious teachings. Of course, according to the current statistics, as many as 58 people have given up food and water and sacrificed their lives in the temptation of heaven. While as many as 112 people are still missing, the government, police, and other systems have been put to work to find them and to change such a strange scenario.
Kenyan police have exhumed 58 bodies from a mass grave in eastern Kenya’s Shakahola forest. In fact, 58 people were buried in the grave in a state of disrepair and died as soon as they were exhumed. Following the seriousness of the incident, many socio-religious organizations including the police, government, Red Cross have rushed into action. The Kenya Red Cross said a tracing and counseling desk had been set up at a local hospital, with 112 people reported missing. The country’s police chief said on Monday. The death toll, which is rising and may rise further. Of course, the system has succeeded in saving 29 people, whose counseling has been started.
The shocking fact is that the dead as well as the missing belong to the Christian faith, but they have been misled by a cult. The leader of the cult is Paul McKenzie and he preaches that people who starve to death will go to heaven. Then his followers started to grow and following such teachings, many people are running towards death by giving up food and water.
A major problem for the government and charities is that such followers of Mackenzie live in isolated settlements within an area of 800 acres within the Shakahola forest, making it difficult to track them down and even know if they are preparing to die.
Kenya’s Inspector General of Police Japhet Koum, who visited the scene, said the death toll included 50 people found in mass graves, as well as eight people who were found alive and emaciated, but later died. He added that 29 survivors have been rescued and police are still looking for possible others. “Forensic investigators, homicide investigators, other police officers as well as some government pathologists are here to investigate and exhume with us,” Kum said in remarks broadcast on Kenyan television.
The cult’s leader, Paul McKenzie, was arrested on April 14 following a tip-off suggesting the existence of shallow graves containing the bodies of at least 31 of his followers. Koom said 14 other cult members are in police custody. Kenzie was arraigned in the Malindi Law Court on April 15, where a judge gave police 14 days to investigate while in custody. Kenyan media reported that he was refusing food and water. Reuters could not reach a lawyer or representative for McKenzie. President William Ruto said Mackenzie’s teachings were against any official religion.