Five Fiji deaths: Kiwi ‘healer’ in custody
The Kiwi man in police custody being questioned in relation to the deaths of five people in Fiji is an alleged healer the family used several times in the past to treat one of the victims for abdominal pains.
A family of five, Nirmal Kumar, 63; his wife, Usha Devi, 54; their daughter, Nileshni Kajal; and her two daughters, Sana, 11, and Samara, 8, were found dead on Monday in Nadi after ingesting a toxic substance, autopsy results showed.
Kumar’s brother, Raj Kumar said police told them the person in custody is Muhammad Isoof, a man they had known for years as a neighbour of their Legalega house before he moved to Christchurch.
Isoof is commonly known to everyone as Kamal, Raj said.
‘‘We have known him since 1972 when his father built their house next to ours,’’ Raj said.
Raj said his brother, who was a carpenter, had helped Kamal’s family extend their home several times.
‘‘My brother used to look after their home and fix anything that needed to be fixed. We were very close, since 1972. We grew up together.’’
A day before the fatal incident, the family had celebrated the birthday of 1-year-old Samaira Kumar – the baby who was found crawling by the roadside close to where the bodies were found. Samaira is Nileshni Kajal’s niece.
‘‘Nirmal told me that Kamal was coming down to Christchurch because they were going to fix his house.’’
Raj was in India when he found out about the news of the deaths and returned to Fiji straight away. ‘‘How does this happen? We don’t know why they died. There are so many stories going around but noone that was there is alive to confirm anything, only a little baby.’’
A close friend of the family Stuff spoke to said Kamal was a healer who was highly sought in the Legalega community for his ‘‘special’’ abilities.
Many communities in Fiji use healers to help with a medical problem by the use of prayer, rituals and traditional or herbal medicine, he said.
Kamal was used at least three times by Kumar and his family to heal his wife’s abdominal pains, when he was in Fiji, the source said.
‘‘He prays for them and gives them some herbal medicine or something to drink. They’ve performed rituals together at the beach and elsewhere. This is not the first time they’ve been out together.’’
Kamal could ‘‘fix a problem’’ by praying for people from all walks of life who came to him for healing.
‘‘Headaches, sores on the leg, any type of pain – he had this special power to fix it by praying for people. And he knew about herbal medicine; sometimes he would give that too.’’
The family friend said Kamal was a good man and the whole Legalega community was in shock over what had happened.
The family is expected to be buried tomorrow in Votualevu in Nadi.