Court orders for exhumation of man secretly buried in Nyamira

A Nyamira court has ordered for exhumation of the body of a man who was secretly buried on Saturday night following a family feud.

In the court order dated January 10, officers from Sengera Police Station have been ordered to exhume the body of the late Ezekiel Omao at Irianyi village in Kemera ward, Kitutu Masaba Constituency.

Three of his children had raised queries over his death and alleged secret burial by the family of their stepmother.

Omao, a retired district accountant in Nyamira, reportedly died last Thursday under unclear circumstances.

According to an application that was filed by his two daughters and a son, the cause of Omao's death was not clear and the manner in which he was hurriedly buried raised suspicion.

The three said their mother, who was the elder wife of their father, had died many years back and they have not been in good terms with their stepmother.

Efforts by the siblings to bar the defendants from burying their father through the same court order did not materialise as the step-family went ahead to pick the body from mortuary and buried it on Saturday night. 

Edna Kwamboka, the eldest of the siblings, now wants to know the circumstances under which their father died. 

The court ordered the two sides of Omao's family to appear for inter partes hearing on January 24.

“It is hereby ordered that the body of the deceased Ezekiel Mobisa Omao be immediately exhumed and preserved at the Nyamira Referral Hospital Mortuary. The OCS Manga Sengera Police Station is hereby directed to oversee the exhumation,” the court order read in part.

The court directed the complainants to meet all the costs associated with the exhumation.

It also directed the Ministry of Health to be involved in the entire process.

The defendants are also required in court to show cause why they should not be committed to civil jail for disobeying a court order that was issued earlier to stop them from burying the body.