Dreketi Family Mourns Loss of 8-Year-Old Girl in Tragic Fall

An eight-year-old girl from Naua Settlement in Dreketi, Macuata, has tragically died after allegedly falling from a tree while playing with other children on Tuesday evening.

The girl, Vasemaca Dikali, was a Year Three student at Valelawa Primary School. Her parents, who work as sugarcane labourers in Seaqaqa, had left her in the care of relatives so she could continue her education.

Her grieving mother, Queenie Ligamamaca, said she and her husband were in the fields cutting cane when they received the devastating call.

“We work as sugarcane labourers in Seaqaqa, and our daughter, Vasemaca Dikali, was staying with relatives at our place,” Ms Ligamamaca said.

“I was told she was playing with a lot of children at about 5.30pm and fell while climbing a tree.”

She rushed to the Seaqaqa Health Centre hoping for good news, but was instead told her daughter had succumbed to severe injuries to her arm.

“Life is already so hard to survive on the little money we earn from cutting cane, and losing a child we dearly loved and raised feels like a sword piercing my heart,” said the mother of seven.

Police spokesperson Ana Naisoro confirmed a report has been lodged and investigations are ongoing.

The community of Naua has been left shaken by the sudden loss, with family, friends and neighbours now rallying around the heartbroken parents in support.