A best friend one could ever ask for.

That’s how Elenoa Likutokatoka described her best friend, Mere Ailevu.

Mere, 14, was found dead at Loloma Beach in Pacific Harbour where she was raped and brutally murdered – not far from a Christian Camp where her father worked.

Elenoa and Mere were best friends since they first met three years ago when Mere joined Lomary Catholic Primary School in Galoa. Deeply hurt and shocked by the tragic loss of her friend, Elenoa said: “I miss her a lot in class everyday now. I also couldn’t believe it when I heard the news on Monday because she was never sick.

“She was always quiet and a good girl. She has everything someone would want in a friend.

“We usually do everything together in school. During our free time we would always talk about our school work. We were both prefects and she was a good leader.”

Mere’s Year Seven teacher Samuela Bulavakarua said she was a soft-spoken, very respectful student.

“Mere’s brutal death shocked her classmates,” he said.

“We were all shocked. Nobody ever imagined that something of this sort would happen so close to home. The students have been disturbed by this event.

“When we found out on Monday that Mere was killed, her classmates suggested that a shrine be built in the classroom on the desk that Mere used.

“They gathered her school books, her friends wrote a poem for her, got her flowers. They also requested that before her funeral, Mere be brought in this same classroom so that these friends can bid her goodbye.

“Mere was always very well groomed. She respected her teachers very much. She knew what her weaknesses are and worked on it rather than ignoring it.

“The best thing about Mere is that she shares her things. I mean she shared her things. She did not hide her books from fellow students. She always shared.”

Mere will be laid to rest at Pacific Harbour today.

Edited by Maraia Vula

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