Mother seeks answers from EFL after son’s death

A grieving mother is demanding answers from her son’s employer following his tragic death at a job site in Suva.

Anit Anitesh Ram, a resident of Vunivau and staff of Energy Fiji Limited (EFL), was reported to have suffered a fatal shock while on duty on Tuesday.

His mother, Puspha Wati, received a call from EFL around 9.22am informing her that Ram had been admitted to Oceania Hospital following the incident.

The Ram family is grieving the loss of their sole breadwinner.

“I quickly tried to arrange a flight from Labasa to Suva to check on Anit’s condition, but after an hour, I received a call from my relatives informing me that he had passed away,” Ms Wati said.

She claimed that she attempted to contact her son’s supervisor multiple times without success and had not received any communication from his employer.

She claimed that her son would never have acted improperly at his workplace and is demanding answers from EFL.

“Normally, EFL is quick to send advisory messages about power shutdowns, including on the same day my son passed away when there was a power shutdown in Suva, leading to the early end of a Parliament session. However, when it comes to informing families about the loss of their own staff, they withhold information,” she claimed.

An email requesting a response from EFL about the incident went unanswered by the time this edition went to press.

Ms Wati said Ram had joined EFL in November of last year and had applied for a transfer to be closer to his family.

“My husband and I are sickly and lately Anit encouraged us not to worry about anything assuring that he would return soon,” the 45-year-old mother said.

Ms Wati said on August 11, he turned 26, and during their last conversation the day before his death, he shared how excited he was to play in the Labasa Sanatan soccer tournament.

“We spent so many years in raising a child so that he can have a good life and look after us when we grow old but, in our case, we lost everything.”

Police spokesperson Ana Naisoro said the victim was found motionless and is believed to have been electrocuted. However, she added that the police will await the post-mortem results to confirm the cause of death.