Shattered and still reeling from shock.
That is how Tevita Seru described his family’s state of emotion when he received devastating news that his 21-year-old niece, Nunia Kurualeba, had passed away.
The Kadavu native was killed in an alleged domestic violence case in her apartment at Kingswood, Western Sydney, Australia, on Monday afternoon.
Nunia had left for Australia last year on a student visa to study finance.
Last month, Mr. Seru said Nunia visited them while she was on a break. On Monday, they received the heartbreaking news.
According to ‘9NEWS’, Nunia was found dead with two stab wounds to her chest after police were called to the Great Western Highway in Kingswood around 1.40pm (Sydney time) on Monday.
Nunia’s partner, Jeremaia Tuwai, 21, has been arrested, charged and was refused bail by the Penrith Court in Sydney yesterday.
In 2016, a feature was published about Nunia when she was 14. She spoke fondly about her late father at the Fiji Police Force Remembrance Day Commemoration in Lautoka.
Nunia, the eldest of three siblings, attended the Remembrance Day ceremony on behalf of her family to honor the sacrifices of her late father, Police Constable Viliame Kurualeba, who passed away in January 2016.
Eight years later, in a foreign land, Nunia met her fate.
Tevita Seru speaking from Kadavu yesterday, described his niece: “Nunia was special to us for many reasons, one of which is that she was named after my mother.
“She is the eldest of three girls and she attended Nadi Airport, Adi Cakobau, Vunisea Secondary and then to Suva Christian School before she went on to a school in Ba.
“I am older than Nunia’s dad and she was so close to me and my family as she was under my care for most of her secondary school years after her dad passed away.
“She grew up in my house with my family. She would always live with us during her high school years and it’s really hard for us to accept the news of her passing.
“It is really hard for us to even think about it.
“She is in Australia with her younger sister while her mother is in the United States. The youngest sibling is here in the west with her aunt.
“She was always conservative. She would never really share with us what she was going through.”
Amid the profound sorrow, Mr. Seru said they would cling to cherished memories of Nunia, her infectious laughter, and her dreams for a bright future that will now remain unfulfilled.
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