Nanuku community residents in Vatuwaqa, Suva, were celebrating yesterday after helping Police arrest a fugitive.

The woman at the centre of the sting operation that lured the suspect was last night being hailed a hero for her courage.

The modest middle-aged woman, who wished to remain anonymous,  had seen the man’s photo on the Wanted List published by the Fiji Sun after she had established contact with him through social media.

She received a friend request from the suspect who had created a fake Facebook account under a pseudo name.

He told her he was a lawyer at the Attorney-General’s office.

Police spokesperson, Ana Naisoro, has confirmed that the offence associated with the suspect was obtaining financial advantage by deception.

She said the suspect was also wanted for questioning for three cases of alleged rape.

Ms Naisoro said he had been evading Police for some time.

The Nanuku woman said: “I was able to identify the suspect when I read the Wanted List in the Fiji Sun last week.

“I went to the Nabua Police Station to lodge the complaint and told them I would help catch him.

“I told the Police I would lure him into my home under the pretence that my husband was away.

“I called him on Monday asking him to come home. The Police were surrounding the house and I think he was tipped off so he went away.

“I then called him up again on Tuesday, I told him to come home because my husband was at work.

“The suspect threatened me by saying if anything happened to him a group of his friends would burn our house and kill our family.

“The suspect said he has done similar cyber stalking activities to 30 other women,” she said.

She said the Police advised her family to ask the community to help apprehend the suspect.

“I was sacred for my family’s life and I asked some of the iTaukei men in our community to help my family,” she said.

She said the Police this time were waiting at the road while the iTaukei men were hiding at a dark place.

Neighbour Tukai Burecati, 36,  who apprehended the suspect said: “The lady came to me with the picture of the suspect in her phone, I recognised him straight away from the Wanted List in the Fiji Sun.”

Mr Burecati who has lived at Nanuku settlement for 16 years said the suspect would not be able to run as he was very familiar with the area.

“On Tuesday night at around 7pm, I was standing in a dark place with another guy just beside the lady’s house.

“I saw the lady inside the house speaking to him on the phone and I saw the suspect walking towards the house.

“When he saw us, he quickly put the phone down and I knew it was him, we ran up to him and dragged him to the lady’s house.”

Mr Burecati said the suspect had no where to run as more than 100 people started coming out of their houses to surround him.

He said the Police vehicle came and took him away.

The woman thanked the community,  the Police Crime Stoppers and the Fiji Sun for their help in protecting her family from a predator.

A video, titled ‘Nanuku rapist expose’, of the arrest, has gone viral on social media.

It showed a man being pushed around and harshly spoken to by residents.

Edited by Maraia Vula

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