Residents of Mucagara Village in Gichugu Constituency, Kirinyaga County witnessed a bizarre funeral Wednesday after a man was buried inside his house.
Emotions ran high as the coffin containing the body of Simon Muriithi Mwaniki was lowered into a grave that had been dug in his living room.
Muriithi’s kin said it was his dying wish to be buried inside the house.
“We had to act according to his wishes to avoid a curse and being haunted by his spirits,” said the deceased’s eldest son Mr James Njuki.
The 65-year-old retired coffee factory manager was hurriedly interred in a brief ceremony conducted by Jackson Muchiri, an African Independent Pentecostal Church of Africa priest.
“We were baffled. We have never witnessed such a funeral in this village. This is a funeral of its own kind which shocked all of us,” a resident, Mr Eliud Muriithi, said.
Before he took his own life on November 18, Mwaniki had also asked his family not to mourn him.
“Before he died he had told us that there should be no mourning when he dies. Therefore, we ensured that we never gathered at any time within the homestead to mourn him,” added Njuki.
The deceased’s son narrated how they found their father dangling from the roof of his house with a rope around his neck.
The siblings suspected that their dad committed suicide due to the depression he suffered after their mother, Juliana Muthoni, died.
“My father started drinking heavily after his wife died. He loved my mother so much and we think he was so much affected by her death and became depressed,” said Njuki.
Rev Muchiri said he was astonished by the funeral.
“For the 38 years that I have been conducting funerals, this is the first time to bury someone inside a house,” he said.
