The mother of the toddler that was allegedly killed by her de-facto partner last October recalled her son’s last word in court this morning.

Mary Radiniwaqa says she heard her son calling her “Ma” one last time before she ran to the room to check on him and found out that he had passed away.

Radiniwaqa was giving evidence in the trial of Sairusi Ceinaturaga, who allegedly killed her son last year in Cunningham, Suva.

She testified in court that she has two children and came to know Ceinaturaga three months before the alleged incident.

She told the court they were introduced to each other on Facebook, and not long after, they decided to live together.

Radiniwaqa stated that she moved in with her older son immediately, while her younger son, who is the victim in this case, came to live with them in October.

The woman stated that on the day of the alleged incident, Ceinaturaga had left for work but returned just an hour later.

She informed the court that Ceinaturaga would constantly hit the children and also she and this happened almost every day.

She stated that the accused, during this particular day, had beaten both the kids on their cheeks and had used a silver spoon to hit them.

Radiniwaqa further testified in court that she tried to grab her younger son away from Ceinaturaga but was chased out from the room.

Following this, she stated that she saw Ceinaturaga carrying her younger son and running around the house, and she could see blood coming out from the child’s nose and food from his mouth.

She said “Ceinaturaga,” then passed the boy to her, and this was when she took him to the room.

She testified that she left the child in the room, and while in the kitchen to get warm water for the child, she heard him call out “Ma.”

Radiniwaqa said that she came rushing to the room only to see that the child had died.

She further told the court that she asked Ceinaturaga for them to take the child to the hospital, but this did not happen from 4pm until 7pm atnight.

She then informed the court that upon arriving at CWM Hospital, the police were called, and she heard Ceinaturaga telling them that the boy had fallen.

Radiniwaqa’s older child also took the stand, and his testimony was heard behind closed doors.

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