ALLEGED ASSAULT VICTIM

LAID TO REST IN NAMUKA, BAU, TAILEVU

Twenty-one-year-old Jaoji Dumu will be remembered as a selfless man who was full of life and love.

The late Mr Dumu was laid to rest yesterday with hundreds of people gathered at the Lagilagi Methodist Church in Namuka, Bau, Tailevu, to bid their final goodbyes. Mr Dumu was allegedly assaulted by a family member on the afternoon of Monday, February 3, and sustained injuries when he fell from the village seawall.

He was rushed to the Nausori hospital but was pronounced dead upon arrival.

Mr Dumu was the youngest of two girls.

His sister Eseta Waqa said her family were yet to come to terms with his passing away as they had only buried their mother in October last year.

She said Mr Dumu was waiting for the shortlisted applicants from the National Fire Authority.

Ms Waqa said he was preparing his documents last Sunday to submit to the Republic of the Fiji Military Forces before the incident took place.

“He had big dreams and was a determined young man.

“He told my father that he was going to work hard to find a job and look after him as he was getting old. All that is now no more.

“He was the rose of our family, he was our only baby brother, who was always pampered by both of my parents.”

Ms Waqa said Mr Dumu left home on Monday afternoon to train with the other boys at the village ground when the alleged incident took place.

“He asked me for a pair of socks, which I gave him to wear. After just about 15 minutes a man, who they were with, came running home to inform us that he was lying unconscious at the seawall badly wounded.

“I rushed to the place with my dad only to find him in a bad state not responding back to us.

“That was it, we rushed him to the hospital but it was all too late.

“We miss him so much and our hearts are shattered into pieces for our baby brother.”

Village church steward Jone Temo remembered the late Jaoji Dumu as a faithful servant of Christ.

“He was one of the youngest lay preachers in the village. He took up the role of being a lay preacher when he was only 20 years old,” Mr Temo said.

“He dedicated his life to the work of Christ in the village and he stepped in whenever we needed him.”

Photos: Inoke Rabonu The family of the late Jaoji Dumu. Sisters Miliana Soqonavere (left) and Eseta Waqa with Dad Esila Finau (middle) farewells the late Jaoji Dumu in Namuka, Bau, Tailevu on February 8, 2020. INSET: A picture of the late Jaoji Dumu.