Police Commissioner Sitiveni Qiliho has confirmed that the 13-year-old boy who had alleged that some Chinese nationals tried to abduct him over the weekend in Lautoka, admitted to falsifying the information given to police.
Qiliho says this was due to personal reasons that they will not be able to divulge publicly, and will leave to the discretion of the family if they wish to do so.
Qiliho says they have counseled the child in the presence of his parents and spoke to him at length about the consequences of his actions and they have urged his parents to be understanding of the reasons as to why the child felt the need to lie about what he went through in the hope he will learn from his mistakes.
He adds the investigation into the abduction case has been closed.
Qiliho says this is a sensitive situation and they would also ask members of the public to respect the family’s privacy.
He says they understand that the incident had gone viral on social media and had caused nationwide panic.
The Police Commissioner says while the parents have spoken publicly purely based on their concerns and desire to protect other would be victims, based on the information they had from their son, they are however deeply concerned about how certain social media users posted information based purely on stories shared within the hospital corridors.
Qiliho says the social media posts based on rumor mongering had resulted in nationwide panic and the unwarranted attack on the Chinese community.
The 13-year-old boy had claimed to the Lautoka Hospital staff that he was drugged by some Chinese nationals and found in a confused state on the road side. He claimed that the Chinese nationals tried to inject him with some kind of medicine on his chest.
The boy told the hospital staff that he managed to escape. He had claimed that he found a girl of around his age in a fridge in the same vehicle.
-Fiji Village
