Police are currently looking into an alleged forced eviction that occurred yesterday at Lovu Seaside in Lautoka. Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Iakobo Vaisewa confirmed the department has received a complaint from a tenant named Sofia Farzana. She claims that her landlord forcibly evicted her from her home.
In a video shared on social media, Ms. Farzana can be seen as individuals believed to be landowners dismantle fencing and uproot plants on her property while insisting that she vacate the premises. According to a man in the video, Ms. Farzana and her family wrongly sold the land without the landowner’s permission. He demanded proof of a lease title registered in her name.
Ms. Farzana explained that her grandmother purchased the land in 1998 and passed the title to her before her recent passing. “I was born here. I was raised by my grandmother. She bought this land and built this house. She transferred this property to me,” she stated. Additionally, she alleged that the landowners are insisting on a payment of $15,000 to allow her to repurchase the land. “They told us that if we wanted to stay here, we must buy the land again with a new title. Where do we get the money? My husband is a struggling chef. This is a degrading and humiliating experience for me and my two little children,” she expressed.
SSP Vaisewa confirmed that investigations into this incident are still ongoing, and they are taking the situation seriously.
This situation highlights the pressing issues surrounding property rights and housing security, which many families face. The investigation could potentially yield necessary protections for tenants, reinforcing the legal frameworks that exist to safeguard people’s homes and living conditions. As the investigation unfolds, there is hope that the system will act in fairness and justice will be served for those impacted.
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