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A post mortem examination on an 80-year-old South Auckland woman who died after being attacked last week has confirmed she died of a "significant physical assault", police say.
Yin Ping Yang died in Auckland's Middlemore Hospital on Saturday afternoon after suffering internal injuries, including broken ribs, in a home invasion in Manurewa on Wednesday.
Before she died, Mrs Yang managed to tell police her attacker was a Maori or Polynesian man, aged 30 to 40, dressed in a white T-shirt and black shorts. She did not know the man.
Detective Inspector Mark Gutry said the post mortem was completed today and showed Mrs Yang had died of "significant physical assault".
He said police were continuing door-to-door questioning near Mrs Yang's Saralee Drive home and said searchers were looking in reserves and vacant land in the area for signs that somebody had been there.
Members of the public were starting to call in with information, he said.
It appeared nothing had been taken from the home and it is not thought Mrs Yang was sexually violated.
The first Mrs Yang was aware of her attacker was when he approached her from behind and put his hand over her mouth.
He then proceeded to beat her up before bundling her into a wardrobe.
She managed to scramble her way out before collapsing unconscious on the living room floor where she was found by her son returning home at 10pm.
He thought she may have had a fall and drove before her to hospital.
But when she regained consciousness the next day, she told him she had been attacked and police were called.
- NZPA
