This archive report was first published on 19 September 2019.
The burial plans for Tob Cohen, a Dutch businessman who was found dead in his home in Kitisuru, Nairobi, are proceeding as planned. Cohen's body will be laid to rest on Monday, September 23, at a Jewish Cemetery along Wangari Maathai Road, according to his lawyers, Phillip Murgor and Cliff Ombeta.
The ceremony will be private, with only close family members in attendance, and will be conducted by Jewish religious leaders. The lawyers have confirmed that the burial plans will proceed as planned, subject to the acquisition of a court order.
On September 13, Cohen's body was found in an underground water tank in his home by homicide detectives attached to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations. He had gone missing on July 20, 2019, and his family members back in the Netherlands had raised the issue with the Dutch embassy in Nairobi after his phones went silent.
Yesterday, both Gabriel and Sarah, Cohen's sister and widow, respectively, were allowed to participate in the postmortem examination, which was led by Government Chief Pathologist Johanssen Oduor. The findings of the autopsy will be tabled in court in adherence to the court order that barred making public the cause of Cohen's death.
On September 19, 2019, Sarah had pleaded with the court to allow her to take part in the postmortem process, after which she was brought in from Lang'ata Women's Prison, where she is remanded. The development now settles yesterday's deadlock where Gabriel and Sarah fought for the rights to dispose of Cohen's body.
