There was drama at Embu Level Five Hospital after two families differed over who should bury a three-year-old boy whose body was retrieved from Rupingazi River after he was reported missing for some days.
This was after the two families failed to agree on whether to bury the child in accordance with Muslim law according to the family of the baby’s father or perform Christian rites as per the mother’s side.
The parents of the baby separated last year and the mother of the deceased child has been living at her ancestral home in Makengi Sub-location in Embu North Sub-county.
At one point the dispute escalated and turned physical after both families accidentally met at the mortuary with each not knowing the other’s intention.
The family of the mother of the child alleged that the other family had an intention of secretly collecting the body of the deceased child and to bury him – thus causing a crash between the two families.
Onlookers were seen keenly following the episode as it unfolded, wondering how they could help restore normalcy within the families who were baying for the blood of each other.
Some who tried to intervene also found themselves in the melee.
Purity Mukami, the mother of the deceased child, said when the body of the child was found where it had been dumped in the river it had some body parts missing and that they wanted investigations done before the burial can take place.
“We want investigations done. We separated from the father of the child last year and I live with my mother in Makengi. I want a postmortem done to know what happened,” Mukami said.
Mukami’s Mother Lucy Muthoni alleged that her inlaws had a hidden plan to pick the body from the mortuary without their knowledge, stressing that cannot happen.
Abdul Aziz, the grandfather of the deceased child, said their intention to visit the mortuary was to have an autopsy done on the body to know what happened to the child, saying they had no plan to bury the child.
“The child had some body parts missing like ear, private parts and we wanted to know the truth through postmortem,” he said.
