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Kenyan Christian cult leader Paul Nthenge Mackenzie, along with 29 other suspects have been charged with murdering 191 children by the Malindi High Court, as reported by CNN.
The bodies were exhumed from Shakahola forest in eastern Kenya last year where Mackenzie and his associates are accused of running a death cult. After searching these bodies for months, the authorities exhumed them from the sprawling forest. However, Mackenzie and the 29 others pleaded not guilty to the charges, according to CNN. One of the suspects was found mentally unfit to stand trial. Moreover, Mackenzie has been facing several other charges including terrorism, manslaughter and child cruelty. Reportedly, his trial is scheduled to begin on March 7, according to CNN. Mackenzie, who ran the Good News International Church, is accused of leading a doomsday cult where he instructed his mass followers to starve themselves and their children to death so they could reach heaven. Following this, the investigators alleged that the cult was preparing for the end of the world under the instructions of Mackenzie. He has remained in custody since last April as investigators spent months combing the forest for evidence. Later, the autopsy results showed that many of the recovered bodies had died from starvation while others had signs of blunt trauma and strangulation, as reported by CNN. However, last month, a court threatened to release Mackenzie if the state prosecutor did not bring charges against him. Prosecutors replied that they faced a lengthy process to identify victims through DNA due to the severe decomposition of the majority of bodies. (ANI)
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