Monday April 7, 2025
WAJIR, Kenya (HOL) — A Kenyan court has approved the exhumation of 17-year-old Gacala Abdi Adan, who was allegedly burned alive last month after refusing to marry a 55-year-old man, sparking widespread outrage and renewed calls to address gender-based violence in refugee communities.
Gacala was buried on March 22 at the Dagahaley refugee camp in Dadaab, located in northeastern Kenya near the Somali border. The court in Wajir County granted permission to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to exhume the body as part of a renewed effort to determine the exact cause of death through forensic testing.
Human rights organizations, which have raised concerns about rising cases of forced marriage and abuse in refugee settlements, are expected to monitor the exhumation. The court has also instructed officers at the Dagahaley Police Station to secure the area during the process.
Investigators plan to conduct a full post-mortem examination, including toxicology and DNA analysis, to assess whether poisoning occurred and to establish any biological links to suspects. The tests may occur near the gravesite or at a government-designated forensic facility, depending on recommendations from state pathologists.
Three Somali men were recently arraigned in connection with Gacala’s death. One of them is believed to have been her husband. Authorities say she was killed and her body was then set on fire—an act that triggered condemnation across Kenya and the wider Horn of Africa region.
Gacala’s killing has become a rallying point for advocates fighting forced marriages and gender-based violence, particularly in under-resourced refugee settings like Dadaab, which hosts hundreds of thousands of Somali refugees. Activists are calling for stronger protections and accountability to address systemic abuses.
The Dadaab complex, one of the world’s largest refugee settlements, has long struggled with limited policing and legal protections, leaving women and girls especially vulnerable to exploitation and violence.
