A court in Rongo, Migori County, has granted permission for the exhumation of the body of a General Service Unit (GSU) officer who was allegedly buried inside a church compound.
The move followed an application by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP), which applied to have the body of the officer exhumed for investigations.
According to the prosecutors, the officer, a police constable, was reportedly buried on March 28 at the St Joseph’s Missions of Messiah in Africa church, in Migori, without the family's permission.
It is believed that the police officer died under unclear circumstances on March 27 this year and was buried without the knowledge or consent of his parents or employer.
Following the officer's demise, four of the church directors were arrested in connection with his death. However, they have since been released on bond terms.
In a separate ruling on an application filed by the family of the officer, the court ordered the wife of the deceased to identify the specific location within the church compound where the remains of the husband were buried.
She was ordered to show the Migori County Health Officers where the constable's body was buried for immediate exhumation.
The court also ordered Kamagambo police station OCS to provide security during the exhumation, and upon the exhumation of the remains of the deceased, the deceased would be reburied at the plaintiff’s homestead.
During the court proceedings, the judge announced that the parties involved in the case should appear before the court on August 26 for mention and further directions.
The latest court pronouncement comes hardly a month after the court issued a warrant of arrest against the 4 church directors for allegedly skipping court proceedings.
Their warrant of arrest followed an initial directive for them to be detained for 21 days pending investigations into the death of the police officer.
However, the suspects challenged the court's decision to detain them for 21 days at a separate court within the same county, prompting their release on bail.
Meanwhile, during the preliminary investigations, the ODPP applied to have the body of the officer exhumed for a more detailed probe, even as the family insists on justice for their kin.
