The High Court has ordered Mater Misericordiae Hospital to release the body of a woman that had been detained for nearly two months over an outstanding medical bill amounting to Ksh 3.3 million.

In a ruling delivered on 23rd September 2025, Justice Prof. Nixon Sifuna declared that the hospital’s continued detention of the remains of Caroline Nthangu Tito was unlawful, unconstitutional, and contrary to public policy. The judge emphasized that no law in Kenya grants hospitals the right of lien over patients or their bodies after death.

The case had been filed by Moses Mutua and his brother, the biological sons of the late Caroline Tito, who passed away on 2nd August 2025 while receiving treatment at the hospital.

The two brothers, both college students, told the court that they had been left orphaned following the earlier death of their father, and were entirely dependent on their mother.

Court documents revealed that their mother had been admitted to Mater Hospital on 22nd May 2025, where she received treatment for over two months before her passing.

After her death, the hospital issued a bill totaling Ksh 3,315,784 and demanded full payment before releasing her body for burial. In addition, daily mortuary charges of Ksh 2,000 were accruing, further worsening the family’s financial burden.

The applicants argued that the hospital’s actions were oppressive and emotionally traumatizing, pushing them into financial hardship while denying their mother a dignified burial. They asked the court to declare the detention of the body unlawful and to order its immediate release.

In his judgment, Justice Sifuna strongly criticized the widespread practice among hospitals of detaining bodies as security for unpaid bills. He described the practice as a form of blackmail and coercion that victimizes grieving families.

“There is no property in a dead body, and correspondingly, there cannot be a right of lien on it,” the judge stated. He added that detaining bodies in such circumstances disrespects the deceased, inflicts further trauma on bereaved families, and violates the principles of justice and morality.

The court issued a mandatory injunction compelling Mater Hospital to release the body of the late Caroline Tito to her sons upon payment of only the accumulated mortuary charges. The remaining medical bill, the court ruled, should be recovered separately through lawful civil debt recovery processes.

Each party was ordered to bear its own legal costs.