*Content may upset some readers* An inquest into the death of 20-year-old Jeanine Tuivaiki has revealed conflicting reports as to the extent of her injuries. Tuivaiki, a transgender woman, was found dead at her Catholic Church in Apia just over a month ago. A disturbingly graphic image of her body was subsequently printed on the front page of Samoa's largest daily newspaper, causing outrage in the Pacific Island nation and internationally. Her death was very quickly reported by many media as a suicide. During the inquest, the court has heard that Dr Agape Amituana’i examined Tuivaiki’s body when police officers brought her to hospital in the early hours of the morning of 17 June. Deceased on arrival, the doctor said that the hospital had no medical history for her on file and no relatives were present before she undertook the examination. Tuivaiki had bruising on her upper lip and according to the doctor’s statement, the cause of death was asphyxiation although she was unable to rule out whether this was self-inflicted or otherwise. Tuivaiki’s father gave a statement during the inquest and described seeing wounds on his daughters body including and open wound to her right eye and a swollen left eye, cut upper lip, bruises to her chest. He said when he saw the injuries, he believed his daughter had been beaten up by someone. Judge Vaepule Vaemoa Va’ai who was also the Coroner, told Tuivaiki’s father that his evidence contradicted the hospital X-ray but that there were injuries to the eye, although no bones were broken. The father said he believes the investigation of what happened to his daughter should have taken place much earlier than it did. The Pathologist’s report is yet to be given in Court and the case has been adjourned until 10 August.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Thursday, 21st July 2016 - 3:34pm