A family in Khwisero, Kakamega County, is in shock after it buried a stranger thinking he was their relative.
They were convinced that the body retrieved from River Yala — which is notorious for the recovery of the dead killed elsewhere and dumped there — was that of Mr Joseph Aluchiri, who had been missing for a while.
From Yala mortuary, the body was taken to Shamsinjiri village for the burial; an event that brought together relatives, neighbours and the church.
Ms Eveline Ayieta, a sister of the “deceased”, said the family heard reports of a decomposing body that had been retrieved from River Yala and went to the mortuary.
“The description matched my brother who went missing under unclear circumstances. We went to the mortuary with our mother and her brothers but disagreed in identifying the body. We picked the body and planned for burial amid doubts within some of us,” explained Ms Ayieta.
Shock and disbelief rocked the village after the burial, however, when it was discovered that the man, they thought was dead and buried was alive and had only been detained at Khwisero police station for a while, before being released.
After the burial, the family received reports that Mr Aluchiri was alive in Nairobi.
The family is now blaming the man’s mother and uncles for the confusion.
“We incurred a lot of expenses. We paid over Sh30,000 to bring the body home and more for the funeral,” added Ms Ayieta.
Village elder James Omutula, 86, said a cleansing ceremony that will involve slaughtering a sheep and chicken will be conducted.
“The stomach remnants of the sheep will be used to send out the spirit of the wrong body that was brought to the home,” said Mr Omutula.
He said the house belonging to Mr Aluchiri, where the body was placed before it was buried, will be demolished.
“We cannot allow him to use the same house,” said the elder.
As of at last evening, the family was seeking orders from the court in Butere to exhume the body and take it back to the mortuary.
Kakamega Central Police Commander Valerine Obare said the body can only be exhumed once a court order is issued.
“There is nothing else that can be done until the court issues an order to exhume the body,” said the police boss. BY DAILY NATION