ILISAPECI Naitini, the heartbroken wife of Epineri Naitini, regrets not answering her husband’s phone calls in the early hours of Sunday morning. Mr. Naitini reached out to her around 1:30 AM, but she was offline and missed these calls. This tragic incident unfolded just hours before she learned of her husband’s death, which occurred in Sydney, Australia.
Mrs. Naitini, who is a mother to two young daughters, Lavenia Kaloubula Naitini, 6, and Karalaini Tabua Volaunitoga Naitini, 2, received news of her husband’s death via a call from her sister-in-law later that evening. “I was told that he had been stabbed. I was shocked,” she shared, expressing the deep pain her family is experiencing. Their eldest daughter cried herself to sleep after hearing the devastating news.
The couple had last spoken on Christmas Day while Mr. Naitini was with friends, including Anaseini Waqavuki, a friend who has been wrongly implicated in media claims of a love triangle involving Mr. Naitini. Mrs. Naitini vehemently denied these allegations, stating that they do not portray the man she knew and discussed daily. “Epi was a devoted husband and father; he never missed a day to call us or a week to send us money,” she reflected on her husband’s commitment to their family.
Epineri Naitini, 30, moved to Australia on a student visa shortly after their marriage in December 2022 and had plans to return to Fiji in 2026 to visit family. Originally from Nabudrau, Noco, Rewa, arrangements are being made for his body to be repatriated to Fiji for burial, allowing his family to honor him in his homeland.
The sorrowful situation highlights the fragility of life and the importance of communication, leaving a family grappling with an unimaginable loss.