Police in Kenya are conducting a thorough investigation into the deaths of dozens of members of the Good News International Church who were practising extreme fasting for religious purposes.

Children among the victims

As reported by Tv5 Monde on Tuesday 25 April, 16 new bodies were found in the Shakahola forest in eastern Kenya. They are members of a sect advocating extreme fasting for religious purposes. With this grisly discovery, the death toll has been raised to 89, including children. "We don't know how many mass graves, how many bodies we are going to find," said Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki, who visited the scene in the early afternoon. He announced the discovery of six new bodies after a dozen earlier in the morning. The search is still going on at the site, which has been dubbed the "Shakahola Forest Massacre".

The promise of tough measures

The police have launched an investigation into the tragedy that left members of the International Church of Good News in Kenya dead. For several days, investigators have been digging up the red soil in a vast 325-hectare "bush" area near the coastal town of Malindi that may contain dozens of mass graves. For his part, Kithure Kindiki raised the possibility of "terrorism" charges against Paul Mackenzie Nthenge, the group's self-proclaimed "pastor" who advocated fasting to meet Jesus. Kenyan President William Ruto called the scandal "terrorist". He promised tough action against those "who want to use religion to advance a shady and unacceptable ideology".