• Body buried without following WHO guidelines.
Image: COURTESY
The family of James Oyugi - the Covid-19 patient who died and was hurriedly buried in Siaya in an undignified manner - has filed a petition in court to have the body exhumed.
The family on Thursday said it wants the body exhumed by the respondents and an autopsy undertaken to ascertain the cause of death.
Mortuary workers covered in white ghoulish hazmat suits threw Oyugi's body into a shallow grave at 3am last Sunday in Siaya.
A creepy video surfaced of the burial showing three mortuary workers arriving in a white pick-up in Kamalunga village, Simur Kondiek sublocation, and tossing the body of the Kenya Ports Authority worker into a cold grave at dawn.
There were no mourners, but some women could be heard wailing.
Ugenya police station said Oyugi, 59, travelled from Mombasa with his wife and two daughters on April 4.
He slept in Nairobi and the next day travelled to Kisumu, where he slept. He was involved in a non-injury accident at Awasi market.
He arrived in Ukwala on Tuesday using his brother's vehicle, and remained indoors since.
Police said last Friday at 10am he started coughing and was rushed to Matibabu Foundation Private Hospital. He died at 7pm.
"On April 11, 2020, blood specimens were taken to Kemri in Kisumu. The results were positive (for coronavirus)," a statement from Ugenya police station indicated.
Police ordered the body to be disinfected and buried on Sunday night in body bags.
All contacts have been rounded up and forced to quarantine at Siaya Isolation Centre.