Christchurch couple questioned after family of five found dead in Fiji

August 30, 2019

1 NEWS Pacific Correspondent Barbara Dreaver looked into the mysterious deaths.

A Christchurch couple have been questioned and kept in Fiji over the deaths of five people whose bodies were found on the side of a road in the country.

Local police told 1 NEWS findings of the post mortem examination were consistent with an alleged substance ingested by all five victims which resulted in their deaths.

More tests will be conducted by the Fiji Police Chemistry Scientific Lab in Nasova following the post mortem examination conducted on the five victims yesterday.

Police said investigations would continue.

FBC News - which is government-owned - reported the bodies of a 63-year-old carpenter, Nirmal Kumar, his 54-year-old wife, Usha Devi, their 34-year-old daughter, Nileshni Kajal, and her two daughters, Sana, 11, and Samara, 8, were found in the Nausori Highlands on Monday.

The bodies were found after a local alerted police to one-year-old Samaira Kumar, who was found sitting on top of the body of his grandfather, AAP reports.

Ms Devi's mother Bhijiba Wati, who had travelled to their home on the day of the deaths to help prepare for a Hindu prayer ritual, told the Fiji Sun she was devastated after police told her the news.

"I couldn't stop crying and asking God why such a gruesome killing has been done to them," she said.

According to FBC News, the Christchurch man and his wife, who are known to the family, were detained and questioned by police. The pair have not been named or formally charged with their deaths.

An application filed in the local court to detain the couple for longer than the 48 hours allowed under Fijian law was denied. However, a "stop departure order" preventing them from leaving the country has been enforced, the report said.

1 NEWS Pacific correspondent Barbara Dreaver has a round-up of news from the region.

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