Drama as Meru man turns up for his ‘burial’

A family in Kanuni, Igembe South is in shock after their kin believed to have drowned two weeks ago returned home alive on the day of his ‘burial’.

Osca Mithika, 23, returned home on Thursday as his family members were making the final plans to ‘bury him’.

At home, Mithika was received with fear as some family members and neighbours who had turned up for the final burial fled on seeing him.

Speaking to the PD Online, Mithika said he could not tell why his mother and other people had to run away from him. When he arrived home, he was not aware his burial was underway.

Mithika’s mother Regina Choa said the family had already mourned their son’s death and seeing him during the day of his burial was shocking.

“We could not believe our eyes when we saw him coming. Everybody scampered for safety. People fled and some fell because we had already mourned his death.,” said Mithika’s mother Nchoa.

She further said it took a lot of courage to get closer to his son who also looked confused and stood tongue tied when every body vanished when he arrived .

“I was trembling as I got closer to him to ensure he was really alive because the body we recovered from River Urra was exactly his,” added his mother .

According to the family their sixth born had disappeared from home two weeks ago over fear of an attack by his elder brother whom they had been embroiled in a domestic quarrel.

“One day, we woke up and discovered Mithika is not at home and he did not return for a couple of days. We turned on his brother who had threatened to kill him, but after a week we started looking for him. A few days later, brother came home and reported there is a body floating at river Urra that looked like that of their lost brother,” she added

Mithika said the news were shocking to him since he had left home to look for casual jobs at Mutuati in Igembe North

“I am shocked and happy at the same time coming home at the right time a few hours to my ‘burial’. My conscience has been disturbing me for the time I have been away and I just decided to come back home only to meet the sad news,” added Mithika.

Amid tears of joy, Nchoa said they had to report the matter to the police who aided his retrieval.

She added that after the body was recovered the family identified him and was convinced that he was the one and was taken to Nyambene level Four Hospital Mortuary.

Their uncle John Ntubulu some family members and villagers had earlier attempted to lynch his elder brother 41 years Deoniso Kimathi who they suspected to have killed Kimathi and dumped his body into the river.

“This could be the twist of the event if Kimathi did not manage to escape the wrath of the family and villagers who accused him of killing his brother since they have been having open conflict and fighting openly over some land issue. They could have killed an innocent person ” added Ntubulu.

A mourning turned into a celebration ceremony as the family broke into dance and songs to celebrate the “resurrection” of their son.

According to the area Chief Japhet Kaindiria, the family had already paid mortuary fee of ksh 16,000 and bought food to be consumed during the funeral that was to take place today .

The family instead decided to slaughter a sheep and burry a banana plantation instead as advised by the elders to cleanse any curse and stop any death misfortune to the family .

The chief also added they had to cancel the release of the body from the hospital adding the family could have mistaken the victim.