A tightly squeezed bag that contained the body of a baby boy left inside a tote bag was initially going to be thrown out by workers of the K.R. Latchan Buses Ltd depot in Wainibokasi.

58-year-old Uday Prasad, who has been working for the bus company for over 40 years, said they saw the bag in the last back seat of the bus and thought it contained raw meat.

“When we went inside the bus to clean the interior, we took out all the items that customers had forgotten to take with them,” Mr Prasad said.

Mr Prasad said the bag was found at the back of the bus.

“Upon reaching the last seat then we saw a black compressed bag, we picked it up to throw it away thinking it might be raw meat,” Mr Prasad said.

“Foul smell was coming out of the bag so I decided to dig a small plot and bury the bag inside when my co-worker Suresh said to open and check before burying it.”

Suresh Kumar, 49, has been working for the company for past three years, said he called out to Uday so they could first check what’s inside the bag before they buried it.

“Everyone was scared to open the bag so I took out the plastic from inside, undid the plastic bag then I saw the back of the baby,” Mr Kumar said.

“I was so shocked and saddened to see the body of a small child. I left the bag as it was and called Police.”

He said the bus had made a couple of rounds through the Suva-Nausori  corridor before it went to its last route in Nakelo and Kiuva and returned to the garage at 7.30pm for servicing and mechanical repairs on July 2.

Police spokesperson Inspector Josaia Weicavu said the case was now being treated as murder after a post mortem was conducted on the body of the baby and revealed that the baby was suffocated to death.

Edited by Rusiate Mataika

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