A 27-year-old Kenyan man identified as Patrick Mwangi Katonye was caught exhuming his father’s body to retrieve his leather shoes, fourteen years after he was buried.
Katonye was caught in the act at around 8 am on Wednesday, October 2, in Maseno Village. The photo above shows the disturbed grave of his late father Johnson Ndonye in Subukia, Nakuru County.
According to Nakuru Police Commander Stephen Matu, the suspect wanted to retrieve a pair of leather shoes his late father Johnson Ndonye was buried with back in 2005. The police commander said the man claimed he was e wanted to sell the shoes.
“The suspect told the police that he wanted to sell the shoes. He waited for members of his family to leave the home before exhuming the body but the shoe was rotten,” said Matu.
Police arrested Katonye and ordered him to be taken for psychiatric tests before being presented in court where he will be charged for disturbing the dead.
“It is wrong for anybody to exhume the dead. Such can only be done if permission is granted by a court of law. Investigations have therefore commenced after which the suspect will be arraigned,” added the police boss.
Matu said the family of the deceased requested for time to pray before the body is reburied as it’s a taboo to exhume dead body.
“Police are liaising with the family and the church to rebury the body. The family requested us to them time to conduct some prayers and cleansing,” he said.
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