The mother of the 19-year-old man who died in custody at the Nakasi Police Station, is refusing to allow Police to go ahead with the post mortem examination.
She has told Fijivillage that she wants answers from the Police on how they established that her son committed suicide as she claims that she has been given different stories by different officers at Nakasi Police Station.
Fijivillage has received confirmation that Police Officers have gone to the man’s parents to ask for permission to conduct the post mortem however the family is refusing to grant the approval.
The post mortem needs to be conducted to establish the cause of death.
When asked on the issue, Police spokesperson Ana Naisoro said that a decision will be made on the post mortem after they liaise with the Magistrate this afternoon.
The 19-year-old man was found dead in the Nakasi Police Station cell late yesterday.
Naisoro confirmed earlier today that the man was taken in on Wednesday for a breach of a Domestic Violence Restraining Order and assault and there were other cases that investigators were pursuing.
Naisoro says the man was kept in custody well within the 48 hour period despite some allegations.
She says initial reports received following the incident indicate all necessary processes and procedures were followed with regards to persons in Police custody and a Magistrate was brought in to view the victim’s body.
Commissioner of Police Sitiveni Qiliho has directed a team from the Internal Affairs Unit to investigate the matter and they will make further comments once they complete their work.
We will have more on this later today.
