It is possible that some of the over 200 bodies exhumed from Shakahola Forest in Kilifi County are not associated with controversial pastor Paul Mackenzie's alleged cult.
This is according to Haki Africa human rights group Executive Director Hussein Khalid.
Khalid said going by the autopsy results, some of the bodies could be victims of police or gang brutality.
"Majority of the victims died as a result of starvation as per the autopsy report by Government Pathologist Johansen Oduor but about 30%-40% did not die of starvation meaning they would fall outside the cult belief," he told the Star.
"We suspect that there is a very high possibility that these were victims of either gangs or police excesses."
Postmortem report by a government pathologist indicates that the majority of the victims died as a result of starvation, strangulation while others were hit by a blunt object.
The death toll is now at 201 with security agencies saying more bodies are yet to be exhumed.
More than 601 persons have been reported missing; therefore the number of bodies is expected to increase.
Haki Africa also wants the commission of inquiry formed by President William Ruto to concentrate on the other bodies not linked to Mackenzie’s radical teachings. The commission is led by Lady Justice Jessie Lessit.
Khalid says some murderers might have taken advantage of the situation and killed people then dumped their bodies in the forest.
"There must be individuals, politicians, police or murderers who were not happy with others and took advantage of the situation. From the autopsy, we can confirm that there was murder and not purely starvation," Khalid explained.
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