Child's 'awful' injuries deliberate, police say

Significant physical force was deliberately used to inflict head and body injuries on a Wairarapa toddler whose body was taken to Masterton Hospital on Sunday night, police said yesterday.

An autopsy on Hinewaoriki Rerenoa Karaitiana-Matiaha showed "significant force was used to inflict such awful injuries."

Masterton police started a homicide inquiry yesterday after a preliminary post-mortem examination showed that the 23-month-old's severe head and body injuries could not be innocently explained.

"We still have further pathological tests to run so I'm not able at this stage to be more specific about the nature of Hine's horrific injuries or speculate on how they were caused," the Wairarapa police area controller, Inspector Rod Drew, said last night.

"But it is clear the injuries were not caused accidentally."

Masterton coroner Jock Kershaw released Hine's body to her family last night. She was to be taken to a marae in Greytown.

"They're obviously in a state of shock, but we are having full cooperation from her family," police spokeswoman Kaye Calder said.

About 25 people, including police, scientists and representatives from the Child, Youth and Family Service, were working on the inquiry.

Two more police officers were to join it today to help with intelligence analysis work.

Mr Drew said Hine had normally been cared for by her mother, but had also spent a lot of time in the care of other members of her whanau.

"We're focusing our efforts at this stage on talking to Hine's larger extended family, their friends and others who may have come in contact with her in the days before her death."

Police were confident their inquiries would "identify the person or people responsible."

Forensic results had a role to play, but the case would be solved by "hard, meticulous detective work." Mr Drew said police had a lot of "unexplained matters" still to investigate.

He found it hard to fathom how someone could commit such a "dreadful crime" against a young child.

Police had established that Hine was injured between Thursday and Sunday, while she was staying with extended family in Carterton.

She was the middle child of three, and went to stay with relatives while her mother was busy with another child.

Her mother, grandmother, siblings and other whanau lived in Masterton.

"She spent a fair bit of time at a range of addresses - it's not uncommon for children to be shared around," Ms Calder said.

Police have cordoned off the Carterton house for forensic examination, and have also placed under guard the town's Nga Waka kohanga reo, where members of the whanau helped with odd jobs between Thursday and Sunday.

- NZPA