A Fiji man allegedly involved in witchcraft has been charged with murder in relation to the deaths of 5 people and one count of attempted murder on Fiji’s main island, Viti Levu.
“Investigators have charged the person of interest in relation to the deaths of the family of five from Legalega, Nadi with 5 counts of murder and one count of attempted murder. He will be produced at the Nadi Nadi Magistrates Court today,” Fiji police wrote on their Twitter account.
Investigators have charged the person of interest in relation to the deaths of the family of five from Legalega, Nadi with 5 counts of murder and one count of attempted murder. He will be produced at the Nadi Nadi Magistrates Court today.
— Fiji Police Media (@fiji_force) September 15, 2019
The victims, who were found dead at the bottom of a cliff in the Nausori Highlands, are Nirmal Kurmar, 63, his wife Usha Devi, 54, their daughter Nileshni Kajal, 34, and Kajal’s daughters Sana, 11, and Samarah, 8, according to 10 daily.
The case has perplexed and disturbed the local residents.
An eyewitness reportedly saw a 1-year-old baby crawling by the road near the site of the incident and alerted others.
Post-mortem results showed that the deaths of the 5 victims were caused by ingesting an allegedly hazardous substance.
The father of the two minors that died is 40-year-old Salvin Singh. He told the Fiji Sun that his father-in-law, who is also among the deceased, was involved in witchcraft.
“My in-laws were too much into witchcraft and I even used to pick up the witch doctors for them and later drop them back,” said Singh.
“I knew that my father-in-law was practicing witchcraft and in extreme conditions, he would call witch doctors home or take my mother-in-law to them as she always used to complain of stomach pains and claim that someone has done something to her,” he said.
“Whenever I used to see my in-laws and other witch doctors making a doll from dough and poking needles in it, I always took my daughters away into the bedroom,” he said.
“I never saw anyone or any family so much into witchcraft like my in-laws.”
He said that he is a typical Hindu who is very religious, but that his values are different from those of his in-laws, whom he says were also Hindu but had too much belief in witchcraft.
“My wife and daughters were obviously also dragged into it.”
He said that his separation from his wife was due to their differences in values.
The 1-year-old baby was found by Kelera Toloi, 25, according to BBC, she was crying when found.
“By the looks of it, she was hungry but I wonder what inhumane mind could have done such a thing,” Toloi told the Sun. “Fortunately she did not walk or she would have fallen off the cliff.”
Officers have discovered a fifth body and confirmed dead are three adults and two children. CSI officers discovered the fifth victim a few meters away from where the first four victims were found in the Nausori Highlands earlier today. Investigations continue. pic.twitter.com/j4CC6aJvmz
— Fiji Police Media (@fiji_force) August 26, 2019
Police said that they will conduct more tests in a lab after the previous tests showed that all had ingested harmful substances which caused their deaths.
More tests will be conducted by the Fiji Police Chemistry Lab in Nasova following the post mortem examination conducted on the five victims of the Nausori Highlands tragedy as it showed all victims had ingested an alleged harmful substance which resulted in their deaths.
— Fiji Police Media (@fiji_force) August 28, 2019
The Fiji Sun reported that a man who was identified by the police as a witch doctor and his wife are the main suspects.
They were initially questioned on Aug. 30 for 48 hours and then released, said reports. A court denied a request by police to keep them in detention for longer, reported Fox.
The suspects, albeit having been released, are not allowed to leave the country.
“We released the man, who we have been told is a witch doctor, and we will release the woman when her 48 hours expires,” said the officer at the time.
“They are our prime suspects right now,” the officer said. “According to the evidence that we have, we tried to exhaust all avenues to keep them in custody longer for questioning in connection with the five deaths.”
