Pastor Paul Mackenzie, a figure of controversy, allegedly incited his followers to starve themselves to death in a bid to “meet Jesus,” leading to what has been termed the “Shakahola forest massacre.”
Although starvation was a primary cause of numerous fatalities, government autopsies revealed that some bodies, including those of children, exhibited indications of death by suffocation, strangulation, or blunt force trauma.
An investigator from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations informed AFP that families are responsible for organizing their own burial arrangements. Families have endured a prolonged and agonizing wait for the bodies due to delays in DNA profiling caused by shortages of reagents and equipment.
