Nyeri mortuaries to dispose of bodies lying unclaimed

In African tradition, life does not end with death.

Death is considered a rite of passage to the next realm, a transition from the visible to the invisible.

Different rituals are performed depending on who is dead and how they died. In some communities, the dead are treated with utmost respect. Children are named after the dead and the names of the departed are invoked during calamities or occasions.

During burial ceremonies, relatives and friends come together to celebrate the life of the departed.

But this is not the case with hundreds of unclaimed bodies lying in mortuaries across the country.

After every few months, mortuaries run public notices of the disposal of bodies. Upon expiry of the notice, the bodies are buried in public cemeteries or in mass graves without the knowledge of their loved ones.  

Unfortunately, the bodies are buried with no rites.

The disposal is carried out to create room and to avoid overstretching the facilities where the bodies are preserved.

The Public Health Act (Cap 242) mortuary rule stipulates that no person shall keep the dead in a morgue for more than 10 days. If a body remains unclaimed for 21 days, the hospital is allowed to dispose of it as long as they have court orders and have given a 14-day public notice.

In a public notice issued by Karatina Sub-county Hospital, there are four unclaimed bodies that have been in the mortuary for more than one year.

According to the notice, the bodies of a Mr Njeru and Peter Thairu have been lying in the mortuary for 519 and 530 days respectively. The bodies of two unknown African men, one was unwell while the other drowned in Ragati River, have been in the mortuary for 445 days and 480 days respectively.

According to the hospital mortician in charge, Denis Murimi, the reason there are many unclaimed bodies is most families don’t know that their loved ones have died. 

“Often, there is a breakdown in communication. The relatives haven't spoken to the victim in a long time and assume they are alive yet their kin's body is somewhere in a mortuary,” he said.

He added that most unclaimed bodies are mostly of unknown people whose causes of death range from murder, drowning, road accidents, suicide and abortion.

“It is difficult to track down families of victims who die unnatural deaths and the police cannot identify the fingerprints of the deceased,” he said

“In this hospital's mortuary we have four unclaimed bodies, which have been lying here for more than a year. We have given a 21-day public notice for individuals to come forward and identify the bodies,” he said.