The balance of the massacre in Shakahol, the name of a forest in Kenya where an evangelical extreme fasting sect gathered, increased last Monday (17) to 403 deaths after the discovery of 12 new bodies, according to regional authorities.

Pits dug in a mass grave in Shakahol, near Malindi, have revealed more than 400 dead associated with the Kenyan cult. Photo: Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP/ND

“Our forensic team was able to exhume 12 bodies today,” Coastal Mayor Roda Onyancha told the press on Monday, adding in an AFP report that “a total of 403 dead remained.”

Authorities expect the death toll to rise as the search for mass graves along a wide stretch of the Kenyan coast continues nearly three months after the first victims were discovered.

Police believe most of the exhumed bodies are from Good News International Church, founded by self-proclaimed pastor Paul N’tenge McKenzie, who advocated starving to death to “meet Jesus.”

This former taxi driver has been under arrest since April 14 and will be prosecuted, including on charges of “terrorism”.

Another 16 people are accused of being part of a group of men tasked with making sure that no believer breaks his fast or escapes from a forest near the coastal town of Malindi.

The sect brutally killed children

Autopsies performed so far have shown that most of the victims starved to death shortly after hearing the prayers. According to autopsies, some of the victims, including children, were strangled, beaten or strangled.

The Minister of the Interior announced that Shaka Forest would be declared a “memorial”.

Last month, Justice filed a “suicide attempt” case against 65 supporters who refused to eat after they were led out of the woods.

These lawsuits have been condemned by human rights groups. Kenya’s National Human Rights Commission denounced “an inappropriate decision (that) traumatizes survivors at a time when they are in desperate need of understanding.”

According to AFP.