Neiafu town officer Vava Lapota has condemned the vandalism of a grave in Neiafu this afternoon.
This is the third time the grave has been attacked in the past six months.
Lapota said the vandalism was thought to be the result of someone believing the spirits of the dead were harming members of their family.
Lapota said this type of false belief was still held by uneducated and ignorant people.
They must be stopped, he said.
He urged those who believed that members of their family were harmed by dead spirits to take their patients to Dr Mapa Puloka, Tonga’s Head Psychiatrist.
The town officer said a couple who owned a grave at Liku’one cemetery in Neiafu found it damaged today.
Lapota said he went to the cemetery and saw the damage.
Five concrete bricks had been removed from the side of the grave and the concrete which covered the top was broken, he said.
Lapota said since the couple last visited the grave in December last year, it had been damaged three times.
The couple suspected a person in Neiafu who asked the wife if he could talk to the dead as they were harming one of his children.
Asked whether a complaint had been laid with Police, Lapota said the couple did when the grave was first attacked. They also reported it to the district officer.
He said this time the couple deemed it fruitless to pursue further complaints.
