‎Two university students have won a case against Mater Misericordiae Hospital, which had held their mother’s body for nearly two months over an unpaid medical bill of Sh3.3 million. ‎ ‎The High Court ordered the hospital to release the remains of Caroline Nthangu Tito, terming the detention unlawful, unconstitutional, and against public policy. ‎ ‎Justice Nixon Sifuna ruled that hospitals have no legal authority to detain bodies as collateral for debts, stressing that medical and mortuary bills should be pursued through civil recovery, not through what he described as the “unlawful detention of dead bodies.” ‎ ‎Caroline had been admitted to the facility on May 22 and remained under treatment until her death on August 2. After her passing, the hospital presented her sons, Moses Mutua and his brother, with a bill of Sh3,315,784 and refused to release the body until the amount was cleared. Mortuary fees of Sh2,000 per day were also being added, worsening the family’s financial strain.

‎ ‎The students, who said they were already struggling after their father’s earlier death, told the court the hospital’s conduct was exploitative and denied them the dignity of burying their mother. ‎ ‎In his ruling, Justice Sifuna condemned the practice of detaining corpses to force families into settling hospital bills, calling it coercive and psychologically torturous. He reaffirmed the legal principle that “there is no property in a corpse,” meaning no institution can exercise a lien over a body. ‎ ‎The court ordered Mater Hospital to release the body upon payment of accrued mortuary fees only, while directing the hospital to pursue the outstanding balance through lawful civil proceedings. Each side was ordered to bear its own costs. ‎ ‎l