Kenya's authorities started exhuming remains from at least 32 suspected cult graves in the eastern part of the country on Friday, media quoted local police as saying.
The graves, located in Shakahola forest, Kilifi County, are believed to contain followers of a Christian cult called the Good News International Church. Its leader, Paul Mackenzie, has long been on the police radar for allegedly preaching a dangerous doctrine that encourages people to starve themselves to death in order to reach heaven.
Authorities reportedly managed to discover seven bodies while digging up burial sites on Friday.
However, there are concerns that the number of bodies could be more than it had been initially estimated as each grave can contain more than one body. In one of the unearthed graves. the bodies of an adult and a child were found next to each other, wrapped in blankets.
The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) stated that the graves were fresh as the bodies could not have been more than four weeks old, underlining that only an autopsy could indicate the exact time frame. Among seven recovered bodies, five were reported to be children.
The ongoing exhumation reportedly brings the death toll to 17 since the followers of Mackenzie were found in the forest where they had spent several days starving themselves to death to "meet Jesus." Police managed to rescue 16 of them, while four worshippers died before they reached hospital.
The investigation into the case, as well as the exhumation process, are ongoing after the leader of the church was arrested.