Kenyan authorities exhumed this week in the east of the country the bodies of at least 21 people who allegedly starved to death after fasting to meet Jesus Christ, Kenya's Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) announced late on Saturday. .
The graves were in the Shakahola forest of Malindi, which belongs to the coastal county of Kilifi.
Some children have been identified among the dead, buried next to what appear to be their parents or relatives.
DCI believes the deceased were members of a religious sect known as Good News International Church, led by Pastor Paul Mackenzie Nthenge, who remains in police custody.
Kenyan authorities accuse Nthenge of encouraging his followers, who may number hundreds of Kenyans from all over the country, to fast until starvation in order to ascend to heaven.
Since the DCI investigations began Thursday, authorities have uncovered 65 possible graves and the death toll is expected to continue to rise as excavations progress.
On April 14, the Kenyan Police raided the place where Nthenge's followers were celebrating their fast and rescued fifteen people, but four of them died on the way to a Malindi hospital.
Likewise, last March, the controversial pastor was arrested after being accused of being behind the death of two children in similar circumstances, but was released on bail.
