Kenya cult: Children targeted to die first, pastor says

Children were targeted arsenic the archetypal to beryllium starved to decease successful the last days of a Christian doomsday cult successful Kenya, according to caller accounts emerging.

Police investigating an evident wide termination person truthful acold exhumed 201 bodies successful a wood successful the nation's southeast.

A erstwhile lawman preacher of the cult told the New York Times that children were killed first, ordered "to accelerated successful the prima truthful they would dice faster."

Women and men were adjacent to travel the termination plan, Titus Katana said.

Mr Katana - who is helping constabulary with the probe - besides described to the Sunday Times the alleged brutal attraction of the children, saying they were unopen successful huts for 5 days without nutrient oregon water.

"Then they wrapped them successful blankets and buried them, adjacent the ones inactive breathing," helium was quoted arsenic saying.

It is alleged that the cult followers were told they would scope eden faster if they starved to death.

Official autopsies of immoderate of the bodies successful the expansive Shakahola farm, adjacent the coastal municipality of Malindi, recovered signs of starvation, suffocation and beatings.

More than 600 radical who are reported to beryllium members of the doomsday cult allegedly led by Pastor Paul Mackenzie are inactive missing.

Pastor Mackenzie, who is presently successful constabulary custody, said helium closed down his Good News International Church 4 years agone aft astir 2 decades of operation.

But the BBC had uncovered hundreds of his sermons inactive disposable online, immoderate of which appeared to person been recorded aft this date.

In an interrogation with Kenya's Daily Nation paper a fewer weeks ago, Pastor Mackenzie besides denied helium had forced his followers to starve themselves.

But Pastor Mackenzie preached against education, saying that it was satanic, aft receiving a "revelation from God", Mr Katana told the New York Times.

Explaining his reasoning for leaving the cult, Mr Katana, who is besides assisting successful a constabulary probe against the pastor, said his teachings had go excessively "strange".

Pastor Mackenzie besides encouraged mothers to debar seeking aesculapian attraction during childbirth and not to vaccinate their children.

Much of Pastor Mackenzie's preaching relates to the fulfilment of Biblical prophecies astir Judgement Day.

The church's online contented besides features posts astir the extremity of the world, impending doom and the expected dangers of science.

And determination are predominant warnings of an omnipotent satanic unit that has supposedly infiltrated the highest echelons of powerfulness astir the world.