Family calls for laws against mass burials

 

The family of Sabenzia Chepkesis Killong, the woman who was buried in a mass grave at the Lang’ata cemetery by the Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) without their approval, now wants Parliament to create a law to bar hospitals from disposing of bodies without proof of extensive search for their kin.

The family is also launching a fresh battle against KNH this week as they move to court to sue the hospital for special and exemplary damages following fresh revelations that Sabenzia’s legs had been amputated, a discovery only made after exhumation as the medical report indicated no such thing.

The family’s lawyer Mr Ken Murunga, told the Nation there is need for an “Unclaimed Bodies Act” to outlaw burial of patients without contacting their families at the time of admission to hospitals.

“There was certain failure on the part of KNH which can only be addressed at the policy level by Parliament,” he said.

The family also wants the parliamentary committee on health to launch investigations into the circumstances surrounding Sabenzia’s admission, death and burial and determine the cause of death and culpability of all those involved.

Mass grave

According to Mr Murunga, the mortuary attendant confirmed to the family that Sabenzia was taken to the mortuary minus her legs. During the exhumation on Thursday, it emerged that the deceased had a name tag placed on her hand while the rest of the 18 bodies in the mass grave had theirs on the legs.

Mr Murunga said according to the pathology report, Sabenzia’s legs had been surgically removed and KNH could have allowed medical students to use the body as specimen for their research.

A somber mood engulfed the family’s home in Tabani village in Tongaren constituency, Bungoma County as mourners paid their last respects. No one was allowed to view the body due to its bad state.

Speakers at the funeral called for justice for their kin who went missing on December 20, and the search for whom included reports to two police stations, and KNH. Her sister, Ms Monica Killong, urged investigators to ensure justice prevailed.

“We want justice to prevail and we calling upon the government to intervene and ensure Kenyans know what happened to our sister,” she said.

Sabenzia was admitted to KNH on December 20 and died after eight days. Her body stayed in the mortuary for four months before the facility decided to bury her as per the Public Health Act at Lang’ata Cemetery.

The family claimed KNH failed to notify them of Sabenzia’s death despite reporting the matter to two police stations and sharing her details at the time she was lying in the morgue.

Public nuisance

There was a standoff when officials from the Nairobi City County blocked the exhumation of the body, claiming that this would lead to the exhumation of the other 18 bodies and “create a public nuisance”. The court, however, allowed the exhumation to take place.

Senior Principal Magistrate D W Mburu granted the family’s request to exhume the body, conduct a postmortem, and re-bury their kin in Ndalu location, Bungoma, ending the family’s six-month misery.

Sabenzia, a 47-year-old woman who used to sell clothes, had moved from Eldoret to Nairobi in search of greener pastures, before she lost contact with her family in the last 10 days of December.

Desperate, the family begun searching for her, but only knew of her whereabouts in April when the Directorate of Criminal Investigations — another one of the many offices the family visited — called to say their kin had been found buried in a mass grave.

The family has insisted that KNH neglected its duty as they had not only reported their kin missing in two police stations in Nairobi, but had also shared her details with the facility.

Even then, the family says, the facility went ahead to bury her in a mass grave.

“KNH had my sister’s identity card, which shows the village where she comes from. Why didn’t they use that option of tracing the location and contacting the family before arriving at a decision to dispose of her body?” Dr Joy Killong, another of Sabenzia’s sisters, posed.

KNH chief executive Evans Kamuri, in a statement early this month, said the facility had followed all the rules when burying the body.

“The Public Health Act Cap 242, Ministry of Health guidelines and the KNH Farewell Home Policy and Productive Manual provide for burial of unclaimed bodies 21 days from the time of death. In this particular case, the body stayed unclaimed at the funeral home for four months, and was released for burial on April 27, 2021,” Dr Kamuri said.    BY DAILY NATION