Police have charged a New Zealand man with the mysterious “witchcraft” deaths of a family of five in the Fijian mountains last month.
According to News reports, Christchurch bus driver and “healer” Muhammad Raheesh Isoof, 62, will face a Nadi court later today on five counts of murder.
Nirmal Kumar, 63, his wife Usha Devi, 54, their daughter Nileshni Kajal, 34, and Kajal’s daughters Sana, 11, and Samara, 8, were found dead in the Nausori Highlands last month.
In a shocking twist, Kajal’s 12-month-old niece Sumaira was found crawling nearby unharmed after being left alone in the in the wilderness for up to 36 hours next to her dead relatives.
The baby was reportedly found lying on her dead grandfather’s chest.
With no visible injuries present on the bodies of the five family members, police suspected from the start they were poisoned.
One of the victims was allegedly found with an empty bottle of Coke in her hand which had no label on it.
Fox News reports:
A toxicology report determined the victims died from ingesting a toxic substance, the New Zealand Herald reported Monday. Police had initially suspected poisoning.
The father of the two dead children earlier told the Fiji Sun he blamed his in-laws’ “extreme” interest in witchcraft for the deaths.
“I never saw anyone or any family so much into witchcraft than my in-laws,” he said. “I knew that my father-in-law was practicing witchcraft and in extreme conditions. He would call witchdoctors home or take my mother-in-law to them as she always used to complain of stomach pains and claim that someone has done something to her.”
The New Zealand man was an alleged “healer” who on three previous occasions treated Devi for stomach pains with herbal medicines, Stuff NZ reported in August.
Fiji police called the man a “witch doctor” and named him and his wife as prime suspects, the Fiji Sun reported early in the investigation. The man and his wife, who have permanent residency status in New Zealand, were questioned for two days last month and issued a court order to remain in the country.
He is expected to appear at the Nadi Magistrate Court on Monday, police said.
The surviving child, dubbed locally as the “miracle baby,” has since been released from the hospital, according to reports.
