A murdered woman whose body has remained at the Kisii Teaching and Referral Hospital (KTRH) mortuary for more than five years will have to stay there longer, after some members of her community in Jogoo estate rejected plans to bury her yesterday.
Residents protested against the abrupt interment, prompting the police to call it off and order that the remains be returned to the mortuary.
This was the second time the woman’s burial was postponed, with irate residents saying she could not be buried without her husband and children, who are in hiding due to a land tussle that led to her brutal murder.
There are two graves now on her land, the first dug four years ago and a tree stump used to cover it. A banana stock was planted in the second grave dug on Monday by some community members.
This is in line with the Abagusii culture, which dictates that a deceased person cannot be buried without the consent of his or her family.
Ms Catherine Sarange was reported missing from her home in Jogoo estate, near Kisii town, on June 2, 2017. Her headless body was recovered in a sewage manhole wrapped in a polythene bag, a month after she disappeared.
Body at KTRH
The body has been lying at the KTRH mortuary for five years, awaiting conclusion of cases pertaining to her murder and her disputed land.
On Monday, Kisii Central police boss Amos Ambasa ordered that the body be returned to the mortuary.
“I am urging you to be calm and continue with your work as usual. Return the body to the mortuary and plan how you will accord Catherine a proper burial,” Mr Ambasa said.
The fresh burial contention arose after Kisii Senior Principal Magistrate Carolyne Ocharo ordered the eviction of the woman’s husband, their children and a third owner who had bought a section of the property from the woman.
Sarange’s husband, Francis Ongeri Omwenga, and the third owner, Augustus Oirere, and his wife Everlyne had moved to court seeking to reopen the land case.
This is after the initial ruling by former Kisii Principal Magistrate Stephen Onjoro ordered their eviction.
Kisii business mogul and educationist Charles Onsongo Mochama had sued Mr Ongeri, Mr Oirere and Ms Evelyne for allegedly trespassing on his land, which he had reportedly bought from Sarange’s family.
In April this year, the Kisii High Court sentenced four people found guilty of aiding the murder of Sarange to 15 years’ imprisonment each.
Five years ago, the family told the Nation that they would only bury the remains of Sarange if her killers were brought to book, but apparently, it will take longer for her spirit to rest.
Villagers have been protesting that she has not found justice over her land, which she died fighting for.
In her judgment, Justice Rose Ougo said Joseph Odicho Adogo, Evans Nyoka Ongeri, Ronald Ogwangi Ondieki and Lameck Rioba Sakawa were guilty of accessory to murder.
Before her disappearance and macabre killing, Sarange had resisted pressure from a man who allegedly wanted to displace her family from their land to allow for the expansion of his investment project.
Justice Ougo observed that the motive of Sarange’s killing was clear and that it was related to her land, which she had been threatened for.
After her disappearance and later the discovery of her decomposing body in a septic tank with her head cut off, police Kisii went slow in their investigations and gradually abandoned them. They had looked into the killing for a year without any indications that they were interested in nailing the suspects.
The Nation exposed the authorities’ laxity in arresting the suspected killers. After the story was published, police moved swiftly and arrested four suspects, who were found guilty of aiding her murder. BY DAILY NATION