The Suva Magistrates Court will deliver its special verdict in the case where 29-year-old Samuela Tawase allegedly destroyed idols at the Samabula Shiv Temple in July last year.
Tawase is charged with one count of sacrilege and one count of throwing an object.
It is alleged that he jumped over the Samabula Temple fence and destroyed idols with a crowbar on 13th July last year.
St Giles Hospital Acting Medical Superintendent Dr Kiran Gaikwad told the court that Tawase has been diagnosed with schizophrenia and cannabis use disorder.
He says Tawase is not fit to stand trial.
Dr Gaikwad says in his interviews with Tawase in the last week of June 2025, Tawase claimed he was invited by the Holy Spirit and began hearing persistent voices, which he believed were from Satan, instructing him to preach about the coming of the Lord and to lead people away from other religions.
Tawase says the voices deprived him of rest, causing him to wander and preach at night, stop eating, and sleep in graveyards while carrying out what he believed were divine tasks.
He believed that failing to spread the message would result in global destruction through incurable diseases.
On the day of the incident, he said he was commanded to damage a temple in Samabula as a sign of impending destruction.
He says despite lacking money and intending to get drunk for strength, he obtained a rod near MHCC in Suva and went to the temple, where he damaged idols while believing angels were encouraging him.
He stated he did not intend to harm anyone and only sought to deliver a message.
Dr Gaikwad says Tawase later absconded from the hospital on 19th July 2025.
He says Tawase started smoking suki at the age of 15 and marijuana at the age of 18, and preferred to use them together.
He also says it is highly likely that Tawase had been using substances for many years before his diagnosis.
The doctor says it was not established that he was under the influence of drugs at the time of the incident.
He adds it is safe to keep him at a correctional facility as the community mental health team visits the facility.
Dr Gaikwad adds that the Corrections Service has its own doctors, nurses, and orderlies to take care of patients, and they are already caring for two mental health patients.
Magistrate Yogesh Prasad will deliver the special verdict on April 20th.
