Police in central Kenya have launched an investigation into a pastor and the congregation of a Pentecostal church, following allegations of sexual assault involving several women aged between 17 and 70.
The case came to light during an investigation into a church fire in Kianjai, approximately 250 kilometers north of Nairobi. According to a police report accessed on Tuesday September 3, the fire was a result of local community anger directed at the Kianjai branch of the Kenyan Pentecostal Churches of East Africa.
The report details serious allegations against Pastor Daniel Mururu, who is accused of instructing church elders and assistants to undress women and girls, shave their pubic hair, perform sexual acts, and engage in sexual relations with them within the church premises.
The police have gathered statements from 23 witnesses who allege these acts were committed against a 17-year-old girl, who is now pregnant. In total, more than seven women, ranging in age from 17 to 70, have reported being victims of similar assaults. The pastor and church elders are accused of radicalizing their followers, coercing them into indecent acts by claiming that non-compliance could result in illness or infertility.
Kenya, a predominantly Christian country in East Africa, has thousands of churches—about 4,000 officially registered—some of which have been implicated in criminal or cult-like activities. Last year, Kenya was shocked by the “Shakahola Forest Massacre,” where hundreds of bodies were discovered belonging to followers of an apocalyptic evangelical sect on the eastern coast.