Drinking party ends in tragedy
A FRIDAY night drinking party ended in the death of a Naulu carpenter.
The report was published in The Fiji Times on May 13 1985.
The man was Dewan Chand Mishra and he was 32 years old at the time.
He was in a coma at the Colonial War Memorial Hospital for about 30 hours after he was punched at a bus stop in Nasinu on the night of the brawl.
Police had charged a man with murder and the report stated detectives from Nasinu had interviewed others who were with Mr Mishra at the party.
Mr Mishra was an employee of Arun’s Furniture Company based in Wainibuku, 10 miles, and had been drinking with workmates at the workshop from 5.30pm that day.
A driver of the company, Ravind Sharma, 21, who was at the party and saw the incident, said the company had given them two cartons of beer for doing some extra work during the week.
Mr Sharma said only five of the eight workers drank beer, while three others drank yaqona.
At about 8.30pm the party ended and Mr Mishra and three others, Suman Sham, Bijen Prasad and the accused, left for the bus stop in front of the workshop.
“The three who were drinking yaqona had gone earlier, and I had stayed behind in the workshop to get a video tape,” he said.
He said he was returning with the tape when he heard the four arguing.
“When I reached the driveway of the workshop with the tape, I heard them swearing at each other and then someone yelled, ‘hit him’.”
Rushing to the road, he said he saw the accused holding Mr Mishra and asked him to stop fighting.
He said he then went up to Sham and held him as well and asked everyone to stop fighting and go home.
The accused then started pushing Mr Mishra back, telling him to go home and then suddenly punched him in the face.
Mr Mishra’s assailant struck him twice, he said.
Mr Sharma said Mr Mishra asked him to call the boss, who lived beside the workshop,
Mr Mishra’s attacker then flagged a passing taxi and fled, Ms Sharma said.
He said Mr Sham and Mr Prasad also tried to run away but by then Mr Mishra’s older sister, Nirmala Devi, had come.
She grabbed the two by their shirts.
Ms Devi, who was returning from a friend’s house at the time, said she saw blood stains on Sham’s shirt.
“My brother was bleeding heavily from the mouth, ears and nose and had lost consciousness by the time I arrived,” she said.
Ms Devi said Mr Sharma then rushed to the workshop and got the company car to take her brother to the hospital.
She said Mr Mishra was taken to the Nausori Hospital but they were told to take him to CWM Hospital in Suva as he was in a serious condition.
Mr Mishra’s father, Chandra Shekar Mishra, 69, told of how his son and his family had been planning to migrate together to Australia.
“I don’t understand how they could have killed him since they were very good friends,” he said.
He said his son and his workmates had been through many drinking parties, but never fought among themselves before.
Mr Mishra left behind a widow and five children.
When I reached the driveway of the workshop with the tape, I heard them swearing at each other and then someone yelled, ‘hit him’ – Ravind Sharma