Doomsday cult leader Paul Mackenzie and 30 of his followers have appeared in a Kenyan court accused of murdering 191 children.
Mackenzie and some of his followers have been blamed for the deaths of 429 members of his Good News International Church.
Many are believed to have starved themselves in the belief that by doing so they would meet Jesus Christ before the world ends.
The bodies were discovered in dozens of shallow graves on an 800-acre ranch in a remote area known as Shakahola Forest in the coastal county of Kilifi.
The graves were found after police rescued 15 emaciated church members who told investigators that Mackenzie had instructed them to fast to death before the world ends.
Four of the 15 died after they were taken to a hospital.
Autopsies on some of the bodies found in the graves showed they died from starvation, strangulation or suffocation.
The remains of 180 of the 191 dead children have not been identified, according to the prosecution’s charge sheet.
Kenya’s top prosecutor said on Monday that 95 people will be charged with murder, cruelty, child torture and other crimes.
This is a developing news story.
– metro.co.uk
