Touring the scene, the Chief Government Pathologist Johansen Oduor said the exhumation would help the police in their investigations/CFM
NAIROBI, Kenya, May 19 – Investigators are now keen to establish the identities of seven bodies that were exhumed from two graves on a piece of land that is the subject of a murderous row in Kitengela.
Police officers handling the matter say identities of those killed will help unravel the mystery behind the murders which have been linked to a long-standing land tussle between various brokers in the region.
The decomposed bodies were retrieved on Monday after a day-long exhumation exercise that was supervised by Chief Government Pathologist Dr Johansen Oduor.
Oduor has appealed to family members who suspect that their relatives could be among those exhumed to provide samples for DNA tests that will help in the identification process.
“They were actually two sites, at the first site we found six bodies which were in the same grave and were piled on top of each other and were in different levels of decomposition,” he said.
“About two kilometres farther, we found another body that was hidden in a cave…when I looked at the body I found that they could have died at the same time going with the levels of decomposition.”
READ Another grave unearthed on Kitengela land
He said the exercise will also help determine the cause of their deaths.
According to Oduor, the killings could have occurred in the last two to four weeks.
One of the bodies had some parts missing but he explained that, “there is possibility that parts of the body were eaten by a hyena, but we are yet to confirm.”
It is suspected that some of the people killed were boda boda operators going with their clothing. “Some were heavily dressed but we cannot confirm they were boda boda operators,” he said.
In an exercise that took more than six hours, residents camped at the area following on every activity. Not even the scorching sun stopped the grief stricken among them people hoping to find their missing relatives.
“What? You mean another grave has been found? That’s why people get lost never to be found?” one of the women in the group reacted to news of the discovery of a new grave.
Most people were however talking in low tones including security officers who were baffled by the killings.
Police are still investigating to determine the culprits even as tension builds up in the busy town of Kitengela.
Kajiado County leaders led by Senator Peter Mositet have since asked police to expedite investigations to end the agony of families whose kin are missing and to bring the culprits to book.
“What has been seen here is really horrific and we never thought such a thing can be found in our County. We understand that quite a lot of people have been reporting that their relatives are missing,” he lamented.
“The Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Ole Lenku should form a team to investigate what is happening particularly in Kitengela.”
About The Author
