Family mourns as father found dead in Vunato days before daughter’s Year 8 exams

For Year 8 student Ulamila Narogo, this week was supposed to be about her examinations and a promise from her father that she would have everything she needed.

Instead, she will sit her Fiji Year 8 Certificate Examination grieving the loss of the man who had always supported her education.

Her father, 39-year-old Sailasa Delana, was found dead in a Vunato drain on Sunday morning after leaving his Naviago Settlement home for work the previous day.

Mr Delana, a Rooster Poultry Lautoka staff member and father of three, left home on Saturday morning, kissed his children goodbye and told his wife, Savaira Vunisa, he would return after work and shopping.

He never came home.

“He kissed his children goodbye and told me he would buy eggs and chicken from Rooster Poultry and do some shopping for our family,” Ms Vunisa said.

The family waited throughout Saturday evening.

Ms Vunisa said relatives later told them they had seen Mr Delana with his shopping near a corner shop close to the area where his body was eventually found.

By Sunday morning, the family was searching for him.

“I asked the children to go to the nearby houses and roadside and check if he might have overdone it with grog and was unable to make his way home,” she said.

Then came the call that changed the family’s life.

Relatives from Naviago contacted Ms Vunisa and told her a body had been found in a Vunato drain and appeared to be her husband.

She was asked to go to the hospital to identify him.

“I went and identified his body. I was shocked to see him,” she said.

Ms Vunisa said she saw blood coming from his nose, ears and mouth, while his face appeared injured and his T-shirt was muddy.

She also asked Police about her husband’s bag and other belongings.

“They told me there was nothing with him when he was found,” she said.

“The way I saw him, I believed something very bad must have happened to him.”

Police have confirmed that Mr Delana’s body was identified by Ms Vunisa and are investigating the circumstances surrounding his death.

A post-mortem examination will be conducted to determine the cause of death.

A father’s promise

For Ulamila, her father’s death comes at one of the most important moments of her school life.

Mr Delana had promised to make sure she had everything she needed for her examination, including her lunch.

“When she heard about her dad’s death, she was shocked and really hurt. She felt discouraged about sitting for her exams,” Ms Vunisa said.

“I kept encouraging her that her dad had gone to a better place and that he would be proud if she sat for her exams and passed with good marks.”

Ms Vunisa said her husband was deeply involved in his children’s education and was always present at their school activities.

“My children miss their dad because he supported their education. Whenever there was anything happening at school, he was always present. When he was free, he took them to school,” she said.

“He was a good and loving father and husband.”

The couple had also planned to build a home for their three children.

Now Ms Vunisa faces raising them without her husband.

“We had plans to build a home for our children. I just don’t know what to do without him. I hope to continue taking care of my children,” she said.