Why Kisii People Pour Acid on Their Dead Before Closing The Grave (Details below)

The Gusii region which is made up of Kisii and Nyamira counties is infamous for bizarre witchcraft incidents; real or imagined. Nothing strikes fear as much as how some are said to prowl graveyards at the dead of the night to exhume decomposing corpses for meat . However attending a burial ceremony in some parts of the region which are famous with witchcraft may leave you shocked forever. The very thought of a loved one’s body getting exhumed and eaten sends a cold shiver down the spine of many among the Abagusii hence making them come up with strange ways of burying their dead.If you have attended a burial in Kisii and witnessed smoke coming from the grave immediately the body is lowered into it , then know an acid has been applied on the dead body .

Here ,graves are dug to a depth of seven feet and family members and neighbours light up homes and keep vigil by the graveside for days after burial in most parts of Gusiiland, some going as far as fortifying the graves with a slab of concrete to keep off witches.

However, according to Kisii Catholic Diocese Priest Lawrence Nyaanga the practice is enshrined in secrecy and nobody has ever come out openly to explain how the bodies are exhumed. But so entrenched is the belief, Nyaanga says, that some families burn the dead using acid before covering the graves.

“As a church, we don’t take such stories seriously; they are mere imaginations. Those who have tried to open the graves on suspicion that their relatives have been exhumed have always found their bodies intact .I am against the use of acid to burn bodies, unless the deceased clearly stated so in a will. The dead should be respected,” Nyaanga says.

For additional ‘security,’ to prevent witches from taking the body from the grave , the bereaved engage healers and arm themselves with talismans during vigils, lest the witches cast a spell that sends them into slumber land and steal the remains of their loved ones right under their noses.

Even this the practice of sorcerers exhuming corpses among the Abagusii has been common for many years the talk for centuries , no one understands the phenomenon.

Photo:Body Exhumed & Coffin Abandoned

A popular Pastor George Ondieki of the Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) Nyamira admits the existence of eating human meat in Gusii land and links the exercise to witchcraft – a vice he describes as satanic.

“Being a cannibal is one form of witchcraft and it is satanic. It’s beyond doubt that witches are agents of Satan who use their satanic powers to cause problems among human beings,” He is quoted by a local daily.

Peter Morwabe of the Gospel Embassy Chapel in Kisii town agrees, saying the practice of witchcraft in the Kisii community is an open secret.

“There are several occasions where a coffin has been found without a corpse. These are instances where paraphernalia associated with witchcraft at grave sites suggest the dead could have been exhumed,” he says, adding that stories of relatives complaining of the soil covering graves sinking a day or two after burial are common.

Photo:Suspected Witch House Set on Fire

However , Morwabe insists that there is need for the claims of the dead being exhumed to be investigated. But despite what the men of the cloth say, the rank and file of common wananchi speak of these sorcerers with a mixture of fear and dread, reason being suspect of witchcraft in Kisii attracts certain death in a brutal manner: they are burned alive.

According to sources, local’s belief has it that after identifying a grave witches looks for people to help them carry the caskets. They walk to a doorstep and call out a name and through use of juju, command the occupants to wake up and sleep-walk with them to the graveyard, where they perform rituals to exhume bodies. Once the corpse is out, the sleep-walking ‘helper’ “is compelled to carry it to the river where they wash it before moving it to a specified place for sharing.

If you’re lucky, the witches will let you go home. But you will remain dumb and unable to explain your ordeal to anyone,” a mzee from Nyamira who did not wish to be name narrated . If you’re lucky, the witches will let you go home. But you will remain dumb and unable to explain your ordeal to anyone,” a mzee from Nyamira who did not wish to be named explained to this writer. It is confirmed across Kisii and Nyamira, claims of people who mysteriously woke up having lost their ability to speak abound.

An elder from the region says that that the coffins are put into good use. They are used to ripen matoke (bananas) and “I bet you’ve seen the ‘fat’ and yellow bananas along the streets of Kisii or elsewhere. Those are the ones!” said Kimaiga.

However a section of residents argue that where bodies are exhumed have nothing to do with witches but grave robbers seeking expensive coffins. Innocent Ombui from Marani ; an area known for lynching of suspected witches , recounts that they buried a relative in late 2015 but were perplexed when the grave caved in rather fast.

“The body was flown from the USA and we highly suspect that those who exhumed the body were after the expensive coffin. We can’t tell how they managed to get the body out and later dispose it. It is a mystery that left our family broken because we began to suspect even close family members,” says Ombui.

In another incident , Stella Mokua’s father was buried in February 2014 and together with her other siblings, they left home for work and returned after a few months to find the grave had caved in almost three feet.

“Though stories of witches exhuming graves abound, we decided to use more soil and covered the grave because we didn’t want to torture ourselves imagining that our father had been exhumed,” she says

The tales of witchcraft in the area is a common phenomenon which many have now become used to. However , some still dispute the existence of such incidences saying they are stories out of human imagination fantasy .

Download Edujandon.com News App QR-Code

Edujandon.com - 24/7 News Upda

Developer: Edujandon Enterprises

Price: Free