Families of the 429 victims of the Shakahola massacre are on the brink of closure as the government has now announced the impending release of DNA results for the exhumed bodies.
This exercise will pave way for the identification of kin and preparation for proper burials.
While addressing the media during the sidelines of this year’s KEMRI Scientific and Health Conference, Chief government pathologist Dr. Johansen Oduor revealed that families awaiting DNA results would soon receive them.
“We have not gotten the result of DNA but we understand that there are DNAs which are ready…I don’t know the number but I think in a week’s time we’re going to sit down and look at them then proceed to Malindi so that we can try release a number of bodies which have been identified,” Dr. Oduor said.
Dr. Oduor also highlighted the challenges encountered during the identification process, citing the reluctance of some family members to cooperate due to the stigma surrounding the cause of death, which was linked to cultism. This reluctance significantly slowed down the identification process.
“There were people who we could see just from looking that this person was starved to death based on how thin they were. Upon autopsy body fats were diminished completely, there are organs which we usually look at and you can tell that this person was starving and we’re just noting them and documenting them for the purpose of helping the court in prosecution,” Oduor added.
