Naqali Village buries teen victim and guardian uncle in grief-filled farewell

A heavy silence hung over Naqali Village in Naitasiri today as 16-year-old Salote Sikitia and her guardian uncle, Mosese Vosabeci, were laid to rest side by side in a solemn and deeply moving ceremony.

Wailing echoed through the village as family members, classmates and villagers broke down in tears, struggling to come to terms with the sudden loss of a young life full of promise, and the uncle who helped raise her.

Salote was killed earlier this week after police say she was allegedly attacked by a 43-year-old mentally unstable man from the same village, who struck her several times with a cane knife.

Grief compounded the tragedy when her uncle and guardian, Mosese Vosabeci, died around 6am yesterday. Villagers say he succumbed to heartbreak. He had helped raise Salote since she was just three years old.

Students from Dilkusha High School arrived in large numbers to farewell their friend, many openly weeping as Salote’s casket was carried to her final resting place.

Her aunt Vinau Lakitoga told mourners the teenager had been excitedly preparing to begin Year 12 next year, with dreams she will now never realise.

Life, her family says, will never be the same.

Fifty-seven-year-old Vinau Lakitoga of Naqali Village, who raised Salote as her own daughter, said the pain of losing her niece was still raw.

“I still can’t accept that my daughter is gone, just like that,” Mrs Lakitoga said through tears.

Salote, the daughter of Mrs Lakitoga’s sister-in-law, had grown up entirely in her care. She was a Year 11 student at Dilkusha Girls School, remembered by teachers and friends as bubbly, smart and hardworking.

As the village farewelled Salote and the uncle who loved her like his own, grief gave way to unanswered questions, and a shared plea that such a tragedy must never happen again.