The burial ceremony of a terror attack victim was disrupted when his grandfather barred mourners from accessing the final resting place.
A standoff occurred at the homestead of Daniel Wang'ombe after his daughter, Mary Nyawira, secretly collected her son's body from the Nyeri County Referral Hospital mortuary and took it to the father's compound in Honi village, Nyeri County.
Villagers who had been attending another burial ceremony at the victim's uncle's nearby farm left hurriedly when they learnt his body had been brought home.
When news trickled in that Simon Mwangi's's body was at his grandfather's compound, mourners hurriedly interred Amos Njogu's (the uncle) remains and left for Wang'ombe's home.
Mwangi's burial was allegedly scheduled for today at Nyeri ACK public cemetery since his grandfather had denied the family permission to bury him in his farm.
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Police, led by Nyeri Central Assistant County Commissioner John Marete, visited the home alongside village elders, ostensibly to convince the elderly man to allow the burial to take place but Mr Wang'ombe stood his ground.
At one time, Ms Nyawira stormed out of a meeting and ran to her late mother's grave where she cried hysterically as she called out her mother's name.
"Mother, mother, why did you go, why did you leave me behind with all these troubles?" she shouted as she rolled on the grave.
Emotional outburst
Villagers had a hard time trying to calm her down. When they did, the meeting resumed.
But despite her emotional outbursts her father did not budge, and insisted that the body be removed from his compound. He said he could only forgive Nyawira and her son if they paid him Sh1.8 million severance fee.
But at 4.30pm, villagers had had enough and they stormed the compound and started digging a grave next to Mwangi's house.
As youth, mostly quarry workers, dug the grave, women and children sang dirges and celebratory songs by the graveside.
All the while, the casket carrying Mwangi's remains was in his house where some villagers opened it and started viewing it.
And at exactly 5.45pm, mourners who were spread in the compound were called to the graveside ready for the burial.
Mourners planted sugarcane, cassava and banana stalks on Mwangi's grave. They also demolished his house, carried it shoulder high and placed it on top of his grave.
"We are interring him like a king. We want the mzee to accept that this is his blood and he cannot convince us otherwise," shouted a man who identified himself Peter Gikonda.
