Body of teacher exhumed over non-payment of dowry

Kericho, Kenya: The body of a 36-year-old teacher was yesterday exhumed in Gachaviri village, Mbeere South sub-county, under heavy police presence following a row between two families.

Tension was high when the family of the late Lillian Chepkorir, who hailed from Kericho County, arrived in the Embu village bearing a court order granting the exhumation.

A family member told the media that Chepkorir, a mother of two, had been cohabiting with a fellow teacher, Elias Mwangangi from Gachaviri for nine years but had allegedly not formalised their union.

The source who didn't want to be named said the family had instructed Mwangangi's family not to bury the body until the cause of death was established, and the two families agreed.

Chepkorir's family members who were accompanied by officers from Kiritiri Police Station sought to exhume the body on claims they were kept in the dark over the cause of her death.

Mwangangi's family maintained that a curse would befall members of the two families if the body was exhumed.

The deceased's family insisted that Mwangangi had not paid dowry, and thus, they had not officially married.

DOWRY ROW

A relative claimed Mwangangi only visited Chepkorir in her house in Meru where she was a teacher, and thus could not allow him to bury her. They claimed Mwangangi had neglected her before her death.

"Our daughter was not married to him and was staying alone. Maybe he used to visit her once in a while, but that is not marriage," said the relative.

But Mwangangi's family insisted they had even visited Kericho to notify Chepkorir's family of her death, but were asked to pay a Sh180,000 dowry.

But when they went back to offset the dowry fee, the deceased's family allegedly declined to receive it.

"We even sent elders to notify them of the marriage proposal as our customs dictate. We offered to pay the dowry but it was rejected," said a family member.

The body was later taken to Embu Level Five hospital mortuary.