Kenya Detains Religious Sect Leader After Over 100 Followers' Deaths

A Kenyan court detained a sect leader on Tuesday, accused of encouraging his followers to starve themselves to death, pending questioning on Friday. Investigators are searching for more bodies in a forest where 101 corpses have already been found. Kenyan authorities indicated that the deceased were members of the Good News International Church, led by Paul Mackenzie, who predicted the world would end on April 15 and instructed his followers to kill themselves to be the first to enter heaven. The total death toll has reached 109 so far, including 101, most of whom are children, found in mass graves. The Interior Ministry stated that over 400 people are missing in the surrounding area. The Kenyan judiciary noted, "Mackenzie had been previously arrested several times since 2017 for various violations, including child neglect and promoting extremism." It added, "The judiciary acquitted him of some charges, dropped others, or did not prosecute him for unspecified reasons."