Jekope Rokovuki Naimawi, 32, has been sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of his de-facto wife.

The sentence has a minimum term of 18 years to be served before a pardon may be considered by the President of Fiji.

High Court Justice, Salesi Temo, while sentencing the carpenter said: “You must realise that you have to be punished to atone for your wife’s murder.”

Naimawi on January 10, 2019, at Kalabu in Nasinu, murdered his 35-year-old wife, Maraia Tala.

What happened

He and the deceased had been living in a defacto relationship for the previous five years and had a two-year-old daughter. They resided at Naiyalayala Settlement in Kalabu.

On January 10, 2019, Naimawi, his wife and some friends were drinking homebrew among pine trees near Naimawi’s residence.

The drinking started early morning and went on until late in the afternoon.

During the homebrew party, Naimawi and his wife argued several times.

Naimawi then repeatedly assaulted his wife by hitting her right eye with the homebrew bucket and punched her several times.

She fled to a neighbour’s house. Naimawi went and took his wife to their house.

He later poured benzene on her, lit a match stick and set her alight.

The deceased sustained burns to 45 per cent of her body.

Naimawi later took her to the Colonial War Memorial Hospital, wherein she died on January 22, 2019.

Edited by Selita Bolanavanua

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