THE family of a man who allegedly died while on remand at the Suva Prison are fuming they were informed 10 days after his death.
Deceased Anil Dutt, 57, was charged with the murder of a 47-year-old woman at a Suva guesthouse last year and had been in remand since December 2015.
His brother Deo Ram said he visited Dutt on April 19.
“We were very upset because we were notified on Monday this week, when my brother had passed away on April 30. I only found out when I had to pay $523 in morgue fees to collect the body.”
He said the post-mortem examination conducted on his brother’s body was done without his family’s consent.
“We have not received anything in writing about what happened from any authority. All they are saying is that he committed suicide, but when we were preparing the body for burial, we noticed wounds on the back of his head that was bleeding.”
Fiji Corrections Service said yesterday they had made several attempts to reach Dutt’s family, but these were unsuccessful.
“The inmate had no fixed address and as such, the FCS could not immediately locate or notify the next of kin immediately after the inmate’s death.”
“In its efforts, the FCS visited several addresses which yielded no results in its search for a next of kin.
“The FCS is saddened by the tragedy and extends its condolences to the family of the deceased.”
The FCS also said they were awaiting the results of the post-mortem examination.
