Editor's Review

The pastor had told neighbors that the mother would resurrect on Monday night.

A pastor and his wife have been arrested in  Mutithi Village, Kirinyaga county, for keeping the body of their dead mother.

The two are said to have kept the body praying for her to resurrect.

James Muchira was arrested together with his wife after relatives notified authorities of the matter.

Michira, a pastor of God's Mountain of Believers church,  is said to have taken his mother out of the hospital to pray for her recovery at home.

He is said to have blocked anyone from accessing the room.

{Body of the deceased taken to Kerugoya Hospital morgue. IMAGE: COURTESY}

Mwea West sub-county police commander Wilson Koskei confirmed the incident.

He said the pastor's brother Evans Mwaniki asked the local chief to intervene.

Koskei said he was shocked to discover the decomposing body of the woman in the pastor's residence.

"He prays for people. He picked our mother to come and pray for her. He has a church in his home and he has been living with her for the last month. When I came to visit her yesterday, he refused to let me in," Mwaniki said.

Residents expressed their disappointment on the matter saying the act is shocking.

The pastor had told neighbors that the mother would resurrect on Monday night.

The couple was rushed to Kiamaciri Police Station to save them from an irate crowd that was baying for their blood.

The body of Tabitha Wakathara was moved to Kerugoya hospital mortuary awaiting postmortem.