A Samoan woman in Tonga has reached out to KHJ News for help in searching for the family of a Samoan man who died last month in Tonga’s jail.
The man has been identified as Leuma Laulu.
The Tongan Foreign Affairs Office has been unsuccessful in locating relatives of the man in Samoa and sought the help of the Samoan community in Tonga.
A woman from American Samoa who is currently visiting her husband in Tonga contacted KHJ News after reading a story on Talanei News that mentioned the same last name as the deceased.
The woman who prefers to remain anonymous said the authorities in Tonga want to notify the family of the deceased before they bury him.
The individual who sponsored the man’s visit to Tonga , apparently could not locate any of his relatives here.
The Tongan government has given a deadline for the man to be buried and if relatives are not located he will be buried without notification of next of kin.
Fortunately KHJ News has been able to locate a relative of the man, who has provided more details of his family.
We have provided this information to the woman in Tonga.
There’s no information available on why Mr. Laulu was in jail or how long he has been in Tonga.
