Most Of Kenyan Starvation Cult’s Victims Are Children

April 28, 2023 Christianists, Crime

Children account for most of the 109 bodies so far recovered in mass graves linked to a cult in Kenya, the interior minister said on Friday, the latest details in a case that has shocked the country and prompted calls for tighter regulation of religious fringe groups.

Followers of the Good News International Church near the coastal town of Malindi reportedly believed they would go to heaven if they starved themselves. “The reports we are getting are that many of the recoveries are of children… Children are the majority, followed by women. Men are fewer,” minister Kithure Kindiki told reporters.

The leader of the Good News International Church, Paul Mackenzie, has been in police custody since April 14. Kenyan media say he is accused of persuading his followers to starve themselves to death.

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As cult deaths top 100, another Kenyan pastor arrested over ‘mass killings’ https://t.co/HIApZZxeUr pic.twitter.com/WiriYThjUu

— Reuters (@Reuters) April 27, 2023

Dozens of Kenyans came to identify the remains of their relatives, thought to have starved themselves to death in hope of going to heaven after joining the self-proclaimed Good News International Church, led by Patrick Mackenzie https://t.co/aGSE8LULYz pic.twitter.com/AZmKhlTMHK

— Reuters (@Reuters) April 27, 2023