Mortuary Attendant Arrested for Switching Bodies

Iten County Referral Hospital, Elgeyo Marakwet County.
Iten County Referral Hospital, Elgeyo Marakwet County.
File

Police have arrested a former mortuary attendant at the Iten County Referral hospital, Elgeyo Marakwet County, for allegedly switching bodies at the hospital morgue.

The arrest came just days after the hospital reported that an unidentified man had sneaked into the funeral home section. The police apprehended the suspect, Benson Kagari, a former employee at the hospital. The hospital stated that Kagari had been fired over disciplinary issues.

The suspect is alleged to have sneaked into the hospital morgue before switching identification tags on the dead bodies, which led to a family collecting the wrong body. Police stated that the family had lost a male member of the family, but were surprised to find a female body instead. 

Police officers at a scene in a previous incident
Police officers at a scene of crime in a previous incident in Nairobi County in June 2020.
Photo
DCI

According to the Health County Executive Committee Issa Kamar, it was later identified that the confusion was brought about by Kagari who had switched name tags to sabotage the hospital after he was fired.

'We have enhanced security at the facility and also take this opportunity to report that Benson Kagari is no longer working at Iten Referral Hospital Funeral Home. He is therefore not authorised to transact any business on behalf of the hospital," Kamar said.

The suspect was being held at the Iten police station as investigations into the matter are underway.

A similar incident occurred in Bungoma County where a family moved to court to seek exhumation orders after realising that the body of their deceased relative had been buried by a different family.

Administrator of Dreamland hospital, Ruth Nabiranda, confirmed the incident stating that the hospital had two female bodies at the morgue, which led to the confusion.

Deputy County Commissioner for Bungoma West Sub County, Daniel Kurui stated that police were waiting for the family to obtain a court order so that they could exhume the body.

 

A file image of Central Police station
A file image of Central Police station
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