Police detains woman for staying with a dead body in a her house

By Seliphar Musungu, Kakamega

Out of the required 14 days, 9 were over, he had earlier warned me against opening the door before the said days were over

Police in Kakamega have detained a middle-aged woman on allegations of living with the body of a dead person contrary to the law.

Shamim Kabere, a resident of Iyala, Lurambi constituency is said to have been keeping the body of Ainea Tavava, 48, inside her house for over 10 days.

 Curious efforts of area residents to find the source of the unusual stench lead them to the suspect’s house and prompted them to break her door only to find a man’s body rotting on the bed.

“A magnitude of flies and birds were hovering around the suspect’s stinking house. Our immediate attempt to establish the source of the smell was difficult before we realized flies were all over this house, ” said Josephine Nawire, the suspect’s neighbor.

“A rotting body oozing worms was lying on the bed, a sign he had passed away a long time ago,” Added Nawire after curious residents broke into Shamim’s house.

According to the area residents, the self-proclaimed god and his servant had moved into the village a few months ago. The duo lived a secret life never associating with others.

In what was termed as an act of self-defense before being taken to Kakamega police station, Shamim admitted to living with the dead body, saying that he was his god and had been ordered to be locked inside the room for several days to pray for the upcoming general elections.

“Out of the required 14 days, 9 were over, he had earlier warned me against opening the door before the said days were over”, she said.

Simon Aketch, the area chief confirmed the incident requesting the residents to be calm as investigations over the issue were launched.

“The suspect used the adjacent room while the victim’s body was in the other room, she claimed not to be aware of the rotting smell, and police from Kakamega central station have started an investigation,” he said.

According to Kenyan laws, immediately after a person dies while at home, those close to the body are required to report the incident to a nearby administration who will inform the health department and fasten legal proceedings of handling the body.

Ends