Man charged over mysterious ‘witchcraft’ deaths of five people in Fiji

‘I used to see my in-laws and other witchdoctors making a doll from dough and poking needles in it’, father of victims says

Nileshni Kajal and her daughters Sana and Samara (Facebook)

A man has been charged with five counts of murder after the mysterious “witchcraft” deaths of a family in Fiji.

Muhammad Raheesh will stand trial after five members of a family were found dead in the Nausori Highlands last month.

The bodies Nirmal Kumar, 63, and his wife Usha Devi, 54, were discovered along with their daughter Nileshni Kajal, 34, and Ms Kajal’s daughters Sana, 11 and Samara, eight.

Ms Kajal’s one-year-old baby niece was found alive among the bodies, having reportedly survived for up to 36 hours since their deaths.

No visible injuries were present on their bodies, leading police to suspect poisoning as the cause of death.

The father of the two dead children, who was separated from Ms Kajal, told the Fiji Sun that his in-laws, Mr Kumar and Ms Devi, were interested in witchcraft.

“I used to see my in-laws and other witchdoctors making a doll from dough and poking needles in it. I always took my daughters away into the bedroom,” he said, according to ABC.

“My wife and daughters were obviously also dragged into it.”

One of the victims was allegedly found with an empty bottle of Coke in her hand with no label on it, news.com.au reported.

Police charged Mr Raheesh, who lives in New Zealand, on Monday, three weeks after the bodies were found.

Mr Raheesh had reportedly known the family for decades before he moved to Christchurch.

Mr Kumar's brother told news.com.au that Mr Raheesh was a "healer" thought to have "special abilities" and had been treating Mr Kumar's wife, Ms Devi, for severe abdominal pains for several years.

Police labelled Mr Raheesh a "witch doctor" and he and his wife were questioned last month.

"We also ran a check on the couple and they are both known in our police records, so we are just wondering how they got PR (permanent residency) for New Zealand", a police spokesman told the Fiji Sun at the time.

A court order was issued to prevent the pair from leaving Fiji.