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A Fiji human rights group has called for an investigation to establish the cause of death of a man feared beaten to death in police custody.
Tevita Malasebe, 30, was taken away by from his Nasinu home by a group of police officers late on Monday night, according to the Fiji Times.
His family was told he was being taken away to a police station for "minor matters" and he was led away in handcuffs, the newspaper said.
Malsebe's mother Anisa Nakuila travelled to the station about an hour later but was told her son had not arrived.
The next day family members were asked to go to a local hospital, where they were told Malasebe was dead.
Nakuila says she saw her son's body in the morgue and he was badly bruised from the neck down.
Fiji's Coalition on Human Rights deputy chairman Reverend Akuila Yabaki called the death "an appalling tragedy" and said an immediate investigation should determine how Malasebe had died.
"It is still shrouded in mystery. We don't know how it came about that he was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital on Tuesday morning," Yabaki said.
"We would like to call for a very detailed investigation so the truth of what has happened can be exposed and brought to public knowledge," he said.
The death is not the first to be blamed on Fiji authorities in recent times.
Since the military coup in December last year there have been reports of people being killed at the hands of the army, including 19-year-old Sakiusa Rabaka in February, and Nimilote Verebasaga, whose body was found after he'd been taken to a military camp.
Fiji Human Rights Commission director Dr Shaista Shameem said her organisation would investigate the latest death and had asked police for a report.
A spokesperson for Fiji police could not be reached to comment on the reports.
- AAP
