Brother killed in Christmas binge

SUVA – What began as a brotherly pre-Christmas drinking session ended tragically Thursday morning when a man was killed, with police in Fiji now pleading for people not to overindulge in alcohol this festive season.

Eremasi Namua Saukuru is believed to have died in the early hours of yesterday after a heated argument with his brother, which allegedly ended in a fight.

In an interview yesterday at their home the men’s shared brother-in-law, Ledua Salakabu, said the brothers were drinking on the top flat of their double-storey house. Salakabu and his family resided in the bottom flat.

Salakabu said he heard the rattling of bottles after 9pm on Wednesday which he assumed was when the drinking party started.

Thereafter his wife Mereani Salakabu had repeatedly gone up to her brothers to ask them to quieten down as they had began arguing.

Salakabu said it was after 3.00am when the drunken argument turned ugly and iended up in a physical fight.

He said he went up to check on them and although there was no electricity upstairs, from the solar lamp lit he could see Eremasi lying motionless and he claimed he informed Sakiusa that Eremasi might be dead.

Salakabu then went down again and after a while he heard Sakiusa shouting for help as Eremasi was not responding when he tried to revive him.

Fiji police’s director of Criminal Investigations, SSP Kishore Kumar, said a post mortem will be conducted to ascertain the cause of death.

“This tragic incident has sparked a warning about the consequences of over indulging in alcohol this festive season,” Kumar said.

“Unfortunately people can lose their lives during the festive season as a direct result of incidents related to drinking excessively.”

“As we anticipate a lot of parties and social gatherings to take place we cannot stress the importance of drinking responsibly to avoid such tragic incidents,” he said.

- Fiji Times