Juliet Wachera Gitahi died in Richmond VA on 2nd January 2014 (Read the obituary here). Family and friends came together and raised enough money to repatriate the body back to Kenya for burial. This brings drama, as a Kenyan body from the diaspora faced issues even after arriving.
As the body lay in the local morgue, Juliet’s brother claimed the body and buried his sister in haste without Juliet’s husband’s knowledge or consent. The situation unveiled unexpected drama involving a Kenyan body returning from the diaspora.
On learning of what happened, Juliet’s husband reported the matter to the police and got permission to exhume the body to bury his wife at a location of his choosing. Is this a Diaspora Dilemma involving drama over a Kenyan body?
Woman’s body exhumed as families bicker over dowry
The body of a 60-year-old woman was on Tuesday evening exhumed following a dispute over dowry, adding to the drama surrounding a Kenyan body recently returned from the diaspora.
Hardly 24 hours after Ms Juliet Wachera was secretly buried by her brother, Mr John Kaguo Wangondu, at Kwa-Joseph village in Tetu, her husband, Mr Michael Gitahi Mucheru, obtained a court order authorizing him to bury her at his home in Murang’a County in what residents called “the most bizarre incident ever” involving a Kenyan body.
Mr. Mucheru told a Nyeri court that his rights would be violated if his late wife was buried on her brother’s land as he was legally married to her. The incident added layers to the ongoing drama surrounding the Kenyan body.
At the time of her death, on January 2, 2014, Ms. Wachera was living with her husband in the United States where she was a banker. Such stories illuminate the complex drama when a Kenyan body returns from the diaspora.
A source close to the families said Ms. Wachera was hurriedly buried on Monday morning by her family in a ceremony that took less than an hour. This event became part of the ongoing dramatic saga involving a Kenyan body from the diaspora.
It is also claimed her brother demanded Sh1 million from Mr. Mucheru as dowry. Such demands only add more drama to the sad story of a Kenyan body back from the diaspora.
“I am angry that this man purporting to be my sister’s husband did not pay her bride price. That is why he cannot be allowed to bury her at their his home,” Mr. Wangondu said, escalating the drama over the Kenyan body.
However, Mr. Mucheru said he was legally married to Ms. Wachera for 25 years and had a right to bury her at his home. This familial dispute highlights the drama woven into the events that unfold around a Kenyan body arriving from the diaspora.
“My wife’s brother took her body from Montezuma Monalisa mortuary without my consent and together with his family hurriedly buried her at his home regardless of our marital status. I have every reason to accord my wife a decent send-off,” he said, adding another chapter to the saga of a Kenyan body back from the diaspora.
The body is now at the Nyeri Provincial General Hospital mortuary, continuing the sequence of drama experienced by this Kenyan body returning from the diaspora.-nation.co.ke
