Man charged with murder of Fijian transgender doctor

A man has been charged with the murder of Fijian transgender doctor and social media personality, Dr Isireli Biumaitotoya, also known as Leighley Leli Darling, Fiji police have confirmed in a statement.

The 32-year-old suspect, who is facing one count of murder, was arrested in Nausori on Saturday. He is scheduled to appear in the Nadi Magistrates Court on Wednesday.

Police report that a second person was also arrested, but that individual has since been questioned and released.

Biumaitotoya was found dead in a pool of blood at his home in Votualevu, Nadi, on 1 September.

As the investigations progressed, Biumaitotoya's mother, Mereani Bawa Kotoilevuka, shared heartfelt memories of her nurturing son, whose life was tragically cut short.

The 52-year-old general practitioner was laid to rest over the weekend in a private ceremony in Ba.

Kotoilevuka reminisced about their last Christmas together at her son's home, where he sadly lost his life.

Police also recovered Biumaitotoya's vehicle and were examining social media posts he made before his death to gather more information for their investigation.

They identified his car by confirming details from the initial stages of their inquiry.

The late Dr Isireli Biumaitotoya, left, and his mother, Mereani Bawa Kotoilevuka. Photo/Facebook/Leighley Darling/The Fiji Times

Tributes have been pouring in from across Fiji and abroad, with government officials and human rights advocates calling for justice and an end to transphobia.

In 2024, a 19-year-old sex worker and member of the LGBTQI+ community was reportedly killed in an alleged violent attack in Lautoka.

Fiji's Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination Commission has strongly condemned "all forms of violence, homophobic hate crimes and attacks on people on the grounds of their real or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity or those who do not conform to the binary socio-cultural gender stereotypes and norms".

In 2018, the Pacific Sexual and Gender Diversity Network (PSGDN) and Rainbow Pride Foundation (RPF) reported that the transmurder monitoring data for the Transgender Day of Remembrance update revealed a total of 368 cases of deaths of trans and gender diverse people between 1 October 2017 and 30 September 2018.

During a Human Rights Day celebration in Suva in 2018, Biumaitotoya, representing NGO Haus of Khameleon, told those gathered that Fiji’s transgender community and women have been victims of hate crimes.

Biumaitotoya claimed that the transgender community was the most discriminated community in the world and in Fiji.

“Some people want to delegitimise our existence, and we would like to come and say that we exist and we are real. We are here, and we are also human rights defenders.

Biumaitotoya warned that sometimes, when people hate members of the transgender community, they forget that they are human beings just like them.