The late Dutch tycoon Tob Cohen’s wife, Sarah Wairimu, has objected the release of the deceased’s remains to his sister, Gabriele Cohen.
Through her lawyer, Phillip Murgor, Ms Wairimu asserted that she is the legal wife of the deceased and should, therefore, be the one to receive the remains of her husband for interment.
It is claimed that Cohen’s sister, Gabriele Cohen, had indicated that she wanted the autopsy examination to be hastily done so that she can be given the body of her brother to quickly bury him.
Read: High Court Allows Sarah Wairimu To Be Present For Cohen’s Autopsy At Chiromo Mortuary
“Our client demands that the remains are not released to Gabriele Cohen as she has no legal authority or mandate to take our client’s husband’s body let alone bury him.
“We expect that the Kenyan authorities will enforce her legal rights,” Sarah’s lawyers stated.
However, through her lawyer, Sarah noted that she knows her late husband’s wishes and it does not include burying him quickly.
Read also: Tob Cohen’s Postmortem Postponed As Lawyers Reject Gov’t Pathologist Peter Ndegwa
“Our client is fully aware of the wishes of her late husband, none of which includes being buried within the shortest time possible,” the statement reads.
Enclosed in the application is the couple’s marriage certificate which proves that the two were still legally marriade at the time of his death.
Sarah’s demands come hours after she was allowed to be present to identify the deceased’s body before his autopsy examination.
Following the postponement of the procedure on Tuesday, the postmortem was carried out by chief government pathologist Johansen Oduor.
Read also: DCI, Lawyers Barred From Making Public Statements On Cohen’s Case
In a series of tweets shared by the office of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) on Wednesday morning, the Kinoti-led office educated Kenyans on the Succession Act laws as stipulated in the constitution.
Noting that they intend to inform and sensitize the public, the DCI stated that Law of Succession Act, CAP 160, Laws of Kenya states,”Notwithstanding any provision of this Act, a person who, while sane, murders another person shall not be entitled directly or indirectly to any share in the estate of the murdered person, and the persons beneficially entitled to shares in the estate of the murdered person shall be ascertained as though the murderer had died immediately before the murdered person.”
In what seems like a reply to the debate by Kenyans on Sarah Wairimu’s request to be released in order for her to “fight” for her property, the DCI shared.
On Monday, Ms Wairimu filed a bail application after it emerged that her deceased husband, Cohen, had left all his property and estates to his sister, Gabriele Cohen.
According to the law, therefore, Ms Wairimu is likely to lose all her possession that she acquired together with her late husband since she is the prime suspect in the murder of the deceased.
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