Molo: Woman Found Living With Decomposing Husband’s Corpse

MOLO, Kenya April 28 -Residents of Kibunja in Molo were left in shock on Friday after a woman was with the body of husband who is believed to have died over a week ago.

The man had gone missing for about a week, prompting the neighbours to inquire about his whereabouts.

The body was discovered lying on the bed inside their house where it is believed the woman was also spending the night.

The body was moved to Molo Sub-County Hospital mortuary awaiting postmortem.

Officials who confirmed the incident said they suspect the woman is mentally ill.

According to legal experts, the issue of disposing a dead body has been a controversial subject in Kenya since the colonial era, as a result of failure to have legislation on the same.

Also, there is no provision as to who should have the responsibility of burying the deceased and even where the deceased should be buried.

However, section 137 of the Penal Code makes it an offence to unlawfully hinder the burial of the dead body of a person or without lawful authority disinter (exhume), dissect or harm the dead body of any person.

A person under a duty to cause the dead body of any person to be buried but fails to perform that duty also commits an offence under this law.