A market vendor from Vunivau in Bua is calling for a stronger police presence in the area after his wife was allegedly assaulted by a man who entered their home and stole several items on the morning of Diwali on Sunday.
Ganesh Prasad says he was at work when his wife called him at around 9.30am and informed him that a man had entered their home, assaulted her and stolen some items.
He says he broke down in tears after hearing what had happened and immediately went to the Police Station to report the incident.
Prasad says he asked the officers to accompany him to his home, but a female officer informed him that they could not go as no police vehicle was available at the time.
He says they exchanged contact numbers before he returned home.
Prasad says when he arrived home, he found his wife in a serious condition and immediately gave his vehicle to a neighbour to take her to hospital.
He says his wife suffered serious injuries and was admitted at the Nabouwalu Hospital before being transfered to the Labasa Hospital.
Prasad says police arrived sometime later, and they searched for the alleged suspect but were unable to find him.
He believes the suspect could have been caught sooner if a police dog had been available to assist with the search.
Prasad says it is disappointing that there is no police dog available in the area.
He is also calling on the Government to deploy a Criminal Investigations Department team to the area to address what he claims is an increasing number of robberies.
Prasad claims that two to three houses are robbed almost every day and says urgent action is needed to address the situation.
However, police says the Nabouwalu Police followed all process and procedures in dealing with the report.
They say when the matter was reported by the victim's husband, the operational fleet was attending another report on the southeastern side of the Nabouwalu area of operaton and the message was relayed to the officers of the new report which was to be attended.
Police say from where they were attending the first report, it would have taken them between one and half hours or two to reach the scene.
They also confirmed that a suspect was arrested but later released as his alibi was in tact.
Police also clarified that Nabouwalu has CID officers who are investigating the case.
