Community, in Shock Over Death
Afather and son of Vunikawakawa, Labasa, got the shock of their lives yesterday morning when a man was found dead behind their farm house.
Baram Deo and his son Shamal, 20, went to their farm house to check on electricity and water supply for their labourers when the grisly discovery was made around 9am. Vunikawakawa is a 30-minute drive from Labasa Town.
The dead man has been identified as Sanjesh Kumar, a 32-year-old
taxi driver of Sarava.
Mr Deo said they had gone to check on the farm house before hiring labourers for the cane crushing season.
“It was my son Shamal who first saw the man lying motionless outside the house,” he said.
“He ran back and called me. Blood was visible around the man’s mouth. I then called the Police. “This was the challenging part. I had to get the numbers of a few senior Police officers to get a response and Police finally arrived on the scene two hours later.” Shamal Deo was still in shock when approached for a comment.
He said it was the first time he had seen a dead person in that state.
Waiting for his son
Rajendra Kumar sat down under a mango tree with teary eyes as he looked at his dead son covered by a corrugated iron sheet.
Mr Kumar said his son had not returned home after he left to drive his taxi on Saturday afternoon. “I was contacted by my brother that the owner of the taxi had seen someone else drive the taxi. There had been no contact with my son since he left home,” he said. “Family members then went to the hospital thinking he may have been injured and then to the Police station this morning (yesterday). They were informed that the taxi had been found abandoned at Bucalevu.
“We were also told that a man had been found dead and we made our way up to here.”
Mr Kumar said his son was married and had three children, the eldest being a 12-year-old and another child attending special school.
Police investigation
Police spokeswoman Ana Naisoro confirmed the discovery, saying there were visible injuries on the man.
She said the Divisional Crime Officer North and a team of investigators were on the case.
So far, no arrests have been made.