Family loses three-year-old son in river tragedy

A heartbroken mother believes her three-year-old son could have been saved if help had arrived sooner.

Jesoni Niuniutoga, fondly known as Junior, was found in a shallow river opposite Wakanisila Settlement in Laqere on Tuesday morning.

His mother, Joana Lutuciri, said she still cannot understand how her son ended up in the river.

“When a young man carried him from the river, he showed signs of breathing and even vomited on him,” Ms Lutuciri said.
“If the police had done mouth-to-mouth, my baby might have made it,” she claimed.

Junior’s grandmother, Alesi Mate, said the child disappeared within minutes after she began her morning chores.

“I had just put on the wooden safety gate before sweeping. When I looked back from the kitchen door, he was gone,” she said.

Ms Mate said Junior was too small to remove the gate or climb over the wooden railings.

“If he had gone out the other door, I would have seen him. He never went far — only one or two houses before coming back.”

The search ended in heartbreak when police found the child in the river, just several metres from their home.

He was rushed to the Makoi Health Centre, where he was pronounced dead.

Ms Lutuciri said she was upset when told a post-mortem had already been authorised.

“I don’t care what happens. I just don’t want a post-mortem done on my son,” she said quietly.

Police spokesperson Ana Naisoro confirmed that an investigation is underway.

She explained that post-mortems are required in cases where the cause of death is undetermined.

“Drowning is an unnatural death, where there is no illness that brings about death,” Ms Naisoro said.
“This includes accidents, homicides, suicides, or undetermined cases under the Inquest Act. If the family feels the police response was insufficient, they can report it to Internal Affairs.”

Junior’s father, who is working in Australia, is expected to return home soon.

The post-mortem is expected to be conducted this morning.