'Forgive me please, give us peace'

Tabbasum Mahomed appears beside her husband Azzes Mahomed in the Auckland High Court. Photo / Greg Bowker

The parents of a dead baby could be heard praying to Allah and talking about how the infant could have been fatally injured in secretly intercepted conversations played to a High Court jury yesterday.

On the day of 11-week-old Tahani Mahomed's funeral, her parents, Azees Mahomed, 31, and Tabbasum Mahomed, 26, also spoke of their desire to have their older daughter, Tasmia, returned to them.

The 3-year-old was taken away from them by authorities when police launched a homicide inquiry into Tahani's death. The girl died on January 1, 2008 from serious head injuries police believe were non-accidental.

Mr Mahomed is on trial for her murder, two counts of causing her grievous bodily harm and failing to provide the necessaries of life.

Mrs Mahomed is also accused of this but is not charged with murder.

"Please bring our daughter back ... Allah, please give my Tasmia. Forgive me please, give us peace, Allah you work in mysterious ways, only you know all the plans," Mr Mahomed said as he prayed in Hindi.

Later he said: "Please forgive whatever has happened consciously or unconsciously, forgive us, give our baby a place in heaven."

The tapes were translated into English for the police by Detective Kush Kullar who was challenged on aspects of it by Mr Mahomed's lawyer Chris Wilkinson-Smith.

He asked if in any of the recordings he heard Mr Mahomed speak aggressively, talk about "slamming a baby" down, or ask his wife to lie for him.

Mr Kullar told the High Court at Auckland he he never heard that.

The lawyer challenged his ability to interpret Hindi to English when he had no formal qualifications in Hindi and was not a recognised interpreter.

Mr Kullar told him he interpreted words that he heard and indicated [on the transcript] where he was unsure or couldn't hear what was being spoken.

In another conversation, Mrs Mahomed could be heard to say: "Nobody threw her, so that couldn't have happened to her, mate eh?"

In the same conversation she said Tahani would not have been able to see "her whole life".

When she was admitted to hospital doctors found the girl to have a detached retina.

Mr Mahomed asked his wife "if the head is big/swollen then the baby will cry right?"

In the next tape played to the jury, Mrs Mahomed said to her husband "You hit" after he said to her,"what have I done". They then talked about not being scared of the police because Mrs Mahomed said: "We haven't committed any crime."

Mr Wilkinson-Smith argued the word "hit" was never used. He said she didn't say anything about hitting but was instead saying "words to the effect 'all right, you come now, come over'."

The trial continues.