EMBU, Kenya- Tension gripped Embu Level 5 Hospital on Monday morning after a grieving family discovered that the body of their one-year-old son had gone missing from the facility’s mortuary.
The family, from the Kigumo area in Runyenjes Constituency, had arrived at 8 a.m. to collect their toddler’s body ahead of his burial at their rural home.
Instead of closure, they were met with shock and confusion.
According to Gakoru Mbuni, a close friend who accompanied the family, the mix-up was discovered when mortuary staff presented them with a body that was clearly not their child’s.
“The family has been preparing for this burial in deep grief. We even came here on Saturday and cleared the morgue fees. There was no issue raised then,” Mbuni said.
“It was only today, when they showed us the body, that we realized it was not the one-year-old child. They brought the body of what appears to be a six-year-old boy.”
Embu Family Demands Answers After Toddler’s Body Goes Missing from Morgue
Mbuni further said that attempts to get answers from mortuary attendants hit a dead end.
“When we asked questions, they told us to go and report the matter at Embu Police Station.
They did not explain how a child’s body could just disappear,” he added.
The situation escalated as emotions ran high. Ann Wawira, another family friend, described
what she termed as intimidation by hospital security when they demanded accountability.
“Instead of giving us answers, security officers started harassing us,” Wawira said. “The staff could not explain where the body of the one-year-and-two-month-old boy had gone.”
She added that the confusion became even more distressing when the body presented to them did not fit into the small casket they had purchased for their toddler.
“The body they gave us could not even fit in the coffin we brought. That is how we knew something was terribly wrong,” she said.
The child’s grandmother, Emily Gichuku, spoke of the family’s anguish and determination to find answers.
“We are in deep pain. This has caused us unimaginable psychological suffering,” Gichuku said.
“We will not rest until the hospital produces the body of our grandson.”
In a fresh development, the administration at Embu Level 5 Hospital confirmed it is seeking court orders to exhume a body recently buried by another family in Kiamuringa area of Mbeere North.
Hospital officials suspect that the buried body could belong to the missing toddler.
The unfolding saga has raised serious questions about mortuary management at the facility, as the grieving family continues to demand accountability and the return of their child’s remains.
