The family of 14-year-old Jelida Gaichuiri went into hiding, abandoning their child after she succumbed to Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) complications.
Nyambene Level Four Hospital medical superintendent Dr Michael Kariuki, who performed a post-mortem on Jelida Gaichuiri’s body, said she died from severe pneumonia after an infection on the FGM wound.
The body of the 14-year-old has been lying at the morgue for the last two and half months.
Ms Catherine Thiakunu, an anti-FGM crusader who has been spearheading a search for justice for Jelida said the post-mortem was done after she convinced an uncle to approve the process.
“The family has already paid the hospital to dispose the body. The grandmother claims there is no land to bury the deceased. I understand that they are against her burial because tradition does not allow the burying a childless person,” Ms Thiakunu said.
She said they were engaging Njuri Ncheke elders to convince the family to accept the body so as to accord the late Jelida a descent send-off.