IT is a case that shocked the nation more than four decades ago. A young schoolteacher was abducted while walking on the road with her aunt and her decomposed body was found about 17 days later. For the past three weeks, The Fiji Times ran flashback articles on the murder of Evelyn Nair and we also brought you interviews of two former police officers. One of the former officers was involved in the search for the missing teacher while the other revealed how he and his colleague recovered Ms Nair’s body from the swamp. Considering that the case had generated a lot of interest in 1972, the flashback articles also brought back memories for those from that time who are still alive today. Some people also called me up with information on the case after reading the articles but whatever they stated needs to be verified. As we wrap up the series on Evelyn Nair’s murder today, we take a look back at the chain of events leading to the conviction of the two killers.
THERE have been many murder cases in the country since time immemorial but one in particular is still fresh in the minds of some people.
It is the murder of 20-year-old teacher of Niusawa Methodist School on Taveuni, Evelyn Nair, who was abducted while taking a walk with her aunt.
Going down memory lane, it was about 7pm on May 9, 1972 when Ms Nair was abducted from Helsen St in Suva.
She was thrown in the back seat of the car used in the abduction while her aunt was put on the front seat but she managed to escape and raised the alarm.
A major investigation was carried out by police and a few days after the abduction, a purple dress and bra that Ms Nair wore on that day were found in Tailevu.
Following the discovery of Ms Nair’s clothes and information received, police arrested and charged a man with the schoolteacher’s abduction.
Ms Nair’s parents and police also offered a reward for any information that could lead to the whereabouts of the missing teacher.
It was not until May 25 when the teacher’s decomposed body was found in a swampy area at Naboro, several kilometres away from where her clothes were found.
After the discovery of the body, two men were charged with the teacher’s murder.
Bhagwat Maharaj, 72, was a police constable at that time and he was involved in the search for the missing teacher.
He even spent a few nights in the bushes in Tailevu and survived on whatever edible he found.
Mr Maharaj said it was the worst case he had attended to during his career as a police constable, saying details of the case were still deep down in his memory.
He was also involved in the arrest of the two killers, one of whom reportedly told him that they had some beer and were looking for girls when they abducted Ms Nair.
“It was a very major case at that time and people talked about it a lot. Even now, some people still talk about Evelyn’s abduction and murder,” he said.
“This was the worst case out of all the murder cases that I attended to during my career as a police constable.”
Ponipate Lesavua, 69, was a police detective at that time and was part of the team of detectives investigating the schoolteacher’s disappearance.
While he was in the Criminal Investigations Department office on May 25, 1972, someone called the office and said a body had been found in Naboro.
The decomposed body was of a woman, who was naked, and it was in a swampy area about 100 metres away from the Queens Rd.
Mr Lesavua said when he and another detective arrived at the scene, they could only see Ms Nair’s head as the rest of the body was in the swampy land.
Without any gloves or masks, he and his colleague went inside the swampy area and got Ms Nair’s body out.
“The whole place smelt bad because the body had decomposed and we used our bare hands to pull the body out,” he said.
“Some parts of her body also came in our hands because it had decomposed badly and the stench remained in my nasal passage for five days or so.
“We were later given $250 each by our European boss and three days off to drink beer and de-stress but the stench of a decomposed human body remained with us for some time.”
Mr Lesavua said he was also involved in arresting the two killers through information gathering and intelligence work.
On September 5, 1972, we reported that the two men charged with Ms Nair’s murder had gone on trial in the Supreme Court in Suva the day earlier.
The court was told that four villagers walking from Logani to buy cigarettes at Vugalei saw a car about two chains away turn into the opening of a cul-de-sac which was once part of Kings Rd.
Although the car was quite a distance away, the court was told that the men heard a woman screaming.
Two villagers crept near the car and they saw a man in the driver’s seat and another one on the back seat trying to have sex with a woman who appeared to be naked.
The court heard the villagers tried to get into the car but the doors were locked and they then stoned the vehicle, breaking the front and rear glasses.
It was also reported on September 5 that one of the men came out of the car and after hearing a sound similar to a gunshot, three villagers ran away.
A villager found a purple dress and bra near the spot the next day and after hearing that a girl wearing a purple dress was missing, he took the clothes to Nausori Police Station.
On September 6, we reported on the evidence of Ms Nair in court revealing how she and her niece were bundled into a car by two men.
It was reported on September 14 that a trial within a trial was being held to decide whether certain evidence was admissible in court.
Following the trial within a trial, the presiding judge Justice Clifford Grant ruled that the evidence was admissible in court.
On the front page of September 26, we reported that a threatening letter had been sent to the judge and also to some lawyers in the trial.
It was also reported on the same day that one of the killers took police to where they had dumped the teacher’s body.
The two men were found guilty of the offence by the three assessors and the judge concurred with their verdict and sentenced the duo to life imprisonment.
Justice Grant also stated in his judgment that Ms Nair’s throat had been slashed from ear to ear and she had stab wounds on the stomach too.
On October 24, 1972, we reported that the two killers had been jailed for life by the Supreme Court the day earlier for Ms Nair’s murder.
The duo appealed against their sentence and conviction in the Fiji Court of Appeal but their appeal was dismissed in November 1973.
While the killers have served their prison terms, whatever happened to the young schoolteacher created fear in the community at that time.
And it is still one of the most talked about cases in the country, especially among those who were young when the gruesome murder happened.
From information received, one of the killers has passed away while the other lives in the outskirts of Suva City.
