A 14-year-old girl injured in a makutu, or Maori exorcism ceremony, which killed her cousin Janet Moses arrived at hospital with her eyes oozing blood, the High Court at Wellington was told today.
The girl, now aged 15, told police in an interview she was scared during the October 2007 ritual but believed her extended family, who performed the makutu, must have had a good reason to pour water in her eyes and force her to vomit in an attempt to lift what they believed was a curse.
Nine people are charged with the manslaughter of Ms Moses, while two people whose names are suppressed are charged with wilful cruelty towards the teen.
The family believed a statue of a lion which Ms Moses and another cousin had stolen from outside a Greytown pub was a taonga and had left a curse on the family.
The teen was injured and Ms Moses drowned during an apparent cleansing ceremony or makutu at their grandparents' home in Wainuiomata, Lower Hutt, in October 2007.
During the ceremony, which lasted several days, Ms Moses, the teen and other family members were restrained while some family members poured water into their eyes to exorcise an evil spirit.
In the interview video, played to the court today, the girl wore a dressing gown and had a bandage covering her injured left eye.
She told police family members had stood in a circle around Ms Moses saying "go with peace and love" while Glenys Lynette Wright, 52, poured water in her mouth and eyes.
At one stage, Wright sat on Ms Moses' stomach to restrain her, while other family members held her arms and legs.
"I remember her just lying there... I can just remember [Wright] just tipping the water into Janet's eyes and trying to make her spew up all the yucky stuff (demons) out of her," the teen told police.
She said Ms Moses had asked Wright for "a breather" during the makutu.
The teen was then taken for her own makutu, where she was restrained by family as water was poured in her eyes, and her stomach was pushed on to make her vomit.
The teen told police she had "blacked out" during the makutu, and her family later told her they had "nearly lost me".
Hutt Hospital staff and a social worker also gave evidence, saying the makutu on the teen lasted around six or seven hours, and her eyes were scratched and rubbed to remove a demon.
The hospital's children's ward general house officer Dr Tamsin Roberts said family members with the teen at the hospital said her eyes had been gouged, but that "she would be dead if they didn't try [the makutu]".
The teen smelt of urine and her eyes were swollen, and oozing blood, and she was unable to open them, Dr Roberts said.
The girl was told at hospital by a family member that Ms Moses had died, she told police.
A man and woman charged with wilful cruelty towards the teen have permanent name suppression, while nine people facing manslaughter charges for Ms Moses' death had their name suppression lifted today.
The accused were John Tahana Rawiri, 49, Georgina Aroha Rawiri, 50, Tanginoa Apanui, 42, Hall Jones Wharepapa, 46, Angela Orupe, 36, Gaylene Tangiohororere Kepa, 44, Aroha Gwendoline Wharepapa, 48, and Alfred Hughes Kepa, 48, and Glenys Wright, 52.
(Proceeding)
