River Yala bodies: More time needed to identify victims
River Yala where decomposing bodies were found. The final report on the post-mortem and identification of 24 bodies found in the river could take up to a month.
The final report on the post-mortem and identification of 24 bodies found in the River Yala could take up to a month.
Gem sub-county Police Commander Charles Chacha explained that more families of missing relatives had come forward and that a forensic team from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) was still investigating.
The government had promised to release the report within two weeks after post-mortems were conducted at the Yala Sub-County Hospital mortuary on January 26.
Mr Chacha told the Nation that the forensic team was still compiling the report, which will reveal the cause of death.
DNA samples were collected from the unidentified bodies as part of the identification process. More families of missing relatives have visited the mortuary to have their DNA samples collected.
“The team is still working on the report but there have been some delays because more families have turned up looking for their missing relatives and this means the DNA samples have to be obtained for matching,” Mr Chacha said.
DNA samples
Chief Government Pathologist Johansen Oduor had said the DNA samples would be used to identify the bodies, which were decomposing.
Two families have positively identified the bodies of their missing relatives and had their DNA samples matched. The bodies of Peter Mutuku, from Machakos, and Philemon Chepkwony, from Kericho, have been identified.
The families were allowed to collect the bodies for burial.
One family is that of Ms Naomy Cheptoo, a sister of Chepkwony. Detectives had cleared the family to collect the body for burial.
Ms Cheptoo said: “The death of our brother has left us in great shock. We are asking the authorities to investigate who killed him and dumped his body in the river.”
Police spokesman Bruno Shioso visited the mortuary last month and assured the affected families that police would investigate the killings and arrest those involved.
“After the forensic team is through with the investigations, detectives will try and trace who the victims are and how they met their deaths and track down those responsible,” said Mr Shioso.
Siaya County Governor Cornel Rasanga has called on the police to transfer the bodies to Nairobi to free up the Yala mortuary.
“Our facility has a capacity of 16 bodies, and the bodies from the river have overstretched it, compromising services. Taking the bodies to Nairobi’s City Mortuary will allow the (Yala) mortuary to operate normally,” he said.
