PH
Nyeri – There was standoff in Maironini village, Othaya after the burial of a 68-year-old woman was stopped at the eleventh hour through a court order.
Beatrice Njeri was to be buried at her late husband’s piece of land but her brother-in-law, Caesar Kagima went to court and obtained orders stopping the burial.
Kagima rushed to court quietly while young men in the village were digging the grave where Njeri, who died in Nairobi, was to be buried.
He cited that the land is not owned by Njeri’s husband and therefore she should not be interred there.
It emerged that the land ownership had been transferred and registered in the name of a 10-year-old boy, who is son to Kagima’s second wife.
The aggrieved daughters of the deceased assaulted Kagima claiming that he wanted to own the land together with his second wife.
The family of the deceased which had traveled from Nairobi exchanged fists with Kagima over the court order he had obtained to stop the burial.
“He was sitting in the burial preparation committees here at home and even visited us in Nairobi to inquire about the progress. He moved to court at the last minute. He was pretending to be a friend,” said Wambugu Kagima, a family member.
Villagers and relatives had cooked and were caught unawares setting up tents at the homestead when they received reports that the burial had been cancelled.
Othaya OCPD, Joseph Mwika however advised the family to solve the matter amicably.
He advised them to return to court and seek reversal of the court order as police would not allow the burial to take place since they were acting on the issued orders.
