A family in Tharaka Nithi county has been left at a crossroads with grief after they found out that the body of their loved one was missing from the mortuary.
According to information in a local newspaper, the family had to return home with empty hands after finding the body missing.
According to Ameru culture, the grave is dug on the day of the burial and the sun should not set before the burial.
It is believed that returning the soil to an empty grave can bring misfortune to the family. "Family members dug a grave yesterday (Thursday) when they expected to bury the remains of their loved one, but it is still open, against the culture of the Ameru people," Mr Linus Mwirigi, an elder of the village told the newspaper.
The family of the deceased, Danson Maina, 25, left home on Wednesday night in a hearse and another car, and the rest of the family and villagers were left digging graves and cooking, in preparation for the funeral.
Maina, who worked in a quarry in Nakuru, was found dead on February 12, 2023, without any injuries, and the death was recorded at the Nakuru Police Station as sudden death.
The police contacted his family and some relatives then visited the mortuary and saw his body.
When they arrived and missed the body, they went to the police station where they were told that the officer handling the case of their loved one was not there.
After a tug-of-war, they had to leave the clothes and the coffin in the mortuary while they made the trip back home in an empty car without the body.
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