Five
men exhume a body of the late Esther Njagi at Thambo village in Othaya,
Nyeri County, on January 10, 2014. The body of a 60-year-old woman,
Juliet Wachera, was exhumed on January 21, 2014 following a dispute over
dowry. PHOTO | FILE NATION MEDIA GROUP
The body of a 60-year-old woman was on Tuesday evening exhumed following a dispute over dowry.
Hardly
24 hours after Ms Juliet Wachera was secretly buried by her brother, Mr
John Kaguo Wangondu, at Kwa-Joseph village in Tetu, her husband, Mr
Michael Gitahi Mucheru, obtained a court order authorising him to bury
her at his home in Murang’a County in what residents called “the most
bizarre incident ever”.
Mr Mucheru told a Nyeri court
that his rights would be violated if his late wife was buried on her
brother’s land as he was legally married to her.
At the
time of her death, on January 2, 2014, Ms Wachera was living with her
husband in the United States where she was a banker.
A
source close to the families said Ms Wachera was hurriedly buried on
Monday morning by her family in a ceremony that took less than an hour.
It is also claimed her brother demanded Sh1 million from Mr Mucheru as dowry.
“I
am angry that this man purporting to be my sister’s husband did not pay
her bride price. That is why he cannot be allowed to bury her at their
his home,” Mr Wangondu said.
However, Mr Mucheru said he was legally married to Ms Wachera for 25 years and had a right to bury her at his home.
“My
wife’s brother took her body from Montezuma Monalisa mortuary without
my consent and together with his family hurriedly buried her at his home
regardless of our marital status. I have every reason to accord my wife
a decent send-off,” he said.
The body is now at the Nyeri Provincial General Hospital mortuary.
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