BY NT CORRESPONDENT.
A Narok court has dismissed application by a widower seeking to block his in-laws from removing his late wife’s body for burial after allegedly being barred from the taking part in the process.
The court dismissed the application by Zacharia Ngetich Silatei after his lawyer Danstan Omari failed to appear during the virtual proceedings. He wanted to block his in-laws from taking the body of his wife- Judith Resiato for burial.
The in-laws through city lawyer Harrison Kinyanjui had opposed the application by the businessman.
Kinyanjui had argued that a magistrate court lacks jurisdiction to declare the businessman was the lawfully entitled person to decide where his late wife should be buried and lead in formulation of the burial arrangements as sought.
“Such injunctive and mandatory interlocutory order as sought under section 1A and 1B or the nebulous and broad-based cited order 40 and order 51 of the civil procedure rules , as invoked by the plaintiff,” said lawyer Kinyanjui.
He said the Silatei did not give the mandatory undertaking as to damages required in similar type of case.
The lawyer further said the mother of Resiato, Esther Sena cannot be stopped from mourning her deceased daughter in making her burial arrangements.
He said the mourning is a filial and social process she is entitled to by operation of the law of succession and court is being invited by the husband to act in vain.
Lawyer Kinyanjui further submitted that no mandatory injunction can be issued as sought in Silatei application seeking to restrain Resiato family from barring her.
“Zacharia Ngetich Silatei has come to court with tainted, unclean hands, having caused the death of the deceased Judith Resiato and is disentitled to the pleas he has sought, having not produced any OB report to support his spurious claims of alleged arson when he did in fact cause the fire, alleged road traffic accident, when in reality he contrived the said incident, of alleged trespassers and alleged “Assault” he allegedly (without proof suffered,” submitted lawyer Kinyanjui.
He further said the husband has not met threshold set under principles and hence is disentitled to the interlocutory injunctions sought in his application.
“Zacharia Ngetich Silatei is guilty of material non-disclosure disentitling him to the equitable relief he seeks, in that he was not in Nairobi on November 7th 2022, (or even at all) to appear before the unnamed commissioner of oaths in Nairobi to make any deposition as presented before this court and hence he has committed acts of naked perjury in so alleging,” submitted Kinyanjui.
Silatei sought several orders including to bar his in-laws from removing the body for burial and blocking Umash Funeral home from releasing the body to the family.
He claimed they were married from 1992 and paid the dowry and the two were blessed with five children.
In his court documents, Silatei alleged that the cause of the death of his wife is yet to be established and that he is currently recuperating at Litein AIC Mission Hospital where he had been taken ill.
He said he is the lawful husband of Resiato but the family had made concerted efforts to ensure that he is locked out of the burial arrangements and the actual burial event.
He added that having not been involved in the burial arrangements, he has a well-founded apprehension of the uncertainty that his late wife will be given a befitting send off and if he will ever have access to her grave site.
