Confusion has rocked a family in Navakholo, Kakamega county after it emerged that they had buried the wrong body.
In the bizarre incident, the family of Emmanuel Shamwata which is currently experiencing pain after spending lots of money on burial expenses learned that they had buried the wrong person moments after the burial ceremony.
This was after the family of the deceased buried by the Shamwata family stormed their compound demanding to have the body of their loved one.
“We were at home when another family arrived brandishing a letter from the mortuary, which stated that they were the rightful owners of the body we had buried the day before, which belonged to one Emanuel Shiyonga,” Ambundo, the late Shamwata’s son told a local publication.
Kakamega family says mortician misplaced the tags
Ambundo who says that his family members failed to identify the body of his father before leaving adds that the mix-up of the two bodies was witnessed because the two(deceased) shared a name.
He added that the mortician may have misread the names and placed identical tags on the bodies.
Speaking on the ordeal, the two families expressed shock over the incident which is considered a bad omen among the Luhya community.
Moving forward, the Shamwata family had to consult traditional elders on how to handle the situation, they further conducted cleansing rituals by their beliefs.
“The elders will be here at night to oversee the body exhumation process and perform cleansing rituals by our norms and beliefs before the body of our kin is brought home and properly buried,” Ambundo added.
