Corpse is beaten in exorcising ritual after mortuary mix-up

The body of a dead man was thoroughly caned, abused and kicked last week before an elaborate ritual that lasted several hours was done, after a family mistook it for one of their kin’s.

The family of the deceased in Masat East, Ugenya had prepared everything, including digging a grave, in readiness to give the old man a decent send-off.

But they were left in shock when they discovered that the body the morticians had given them was actually not that of the late 70-year-old man.

Drama began after a mortician contacted one of those who had gone to collect the body at Ukwala mortuary, apologising before breaking the sad news about the mix-up.

wrong corpse

The sad news was that they had taken somebody else’s body, which had to be taken back immediately.

This caused anxiety and panic among the mourners when rumour spread that the body was not that of their man.

Concerned elders swung into action and informed them that some rites had to be performed before giving back the body.

Immediately it was confirmed that indeed they had the wrong corpse, the enraged mourners didn’t waste time.

kicks, blows

They opened the casket, and descended on the corpse with kicks, blows and hurled obscenities at it.

This, they said, they did in line with the Luo traditions to ward off evil spirits, saying the incident was an abomination that could bring along evil spirits; a bad omen that was likely to haunt them if rituals were not going to be performed.

No sooner had they finished carrying out the the ‘cleansing’ ritual than a group of angry men and women stormed the home accusing them of stealing the dead body of their relative.

The area assistant chief says the bereaved family could not believe their eyes when another family stormed their home, demanding a corpse.

Elderly mourners intervened and requested the charged younger men and women to calm down so that they solve the matter amicably.

The two families then agreed to carry the body back to the mortuary to find out from the morticians what had led to the mix-up.

Again, at the mortuary, drama unfolded as the enraged family members engaged the mortuary attendants in a heated exchange, some wailing uncontrollably and blaming the misfortune on perceived family enemies.

After close to an hour, the attendants owned up and explained the mix-up, and how they had released the body of another 65-year-old man from Nyalenya village, from the neighbouring Karadolo East sub location instead.

were perplexed

After a bitter exchange and negotiations, the two families opened the casket carrying the remains of the other man and were perplexed to find out that the body was not their man’s.

However, the family of the deceased from Ugenya felt relieved after finding the remains of their kin.

The family surrendered the other corpse to the mortuary attendants and sped off to Uhumwa village in a pick-up with the right body. The other family was left at the morgue wailing and cursing as morticians prepared the beaten-up body.