Unknown people steal body from War Memorial Hospital morgue
The War Memorial hospital, Nakuru.
Police are investigating an incident in which the body of a middle-aged woman was stolen from the War Memorial Hospital.
The body had been lying in the hospital's mortuary for six months. Unknown persons are said to have broken into the facility and left with the body.
According to hospital matron Patricia Musale, she received a call from Umash Funeral Home after the facility received a body that did not have a burial permit.
She says that upon further investigation, she was later informed that the hospital's mortuary had been broken into and the only body lying there was missing.
"The body had been in the hospital mortuary since September 2023, because there was a family feud over who should bury the body. We only had this one body when the county government forcibly took over the hospital," said Ms Musale.
She also reveals that according to reports she has received, the family of the deceased was seen at the scene at the time of the incident.
The deceased died while receiving treatment at the hospital and was taken to the facility's mortuary.
"The total bill incurred by the deceased is Sh921,000 and the daughter had agreed with the hospital to pay part of the mortuary bill. She promised to pay half of the bill. After a court ruling that gave her the right to bury her mother, we agreed to release the body but nothing has been paid yet," she said.
In addition, Ms Musale says that after the County government took over the facility, the daughter of the deceased called to say that they had been threatened to remove the body or the government would shut down the mortuary's machines.
"After breaking into the morgue, they tried to take the body to Nakuru Teaching and Referral Hospital mortuary but the management refused, they later took it to Umash Funeral Home," said Ms Musale.
The incident was reported at Kaptembwo Police Station and registered under OB 18/23/2/2024.
When contacted, Nakuru West Sub County Police Commander Francis Wahome confirmed the incident.