Victim's daughter asks: 'Where's Dad?'

Photo / APN

The mother of a man who died after a violent incident in Papatoetoe says her granddaughter does not understand that her father is dead and keeps asking for him.

The 21-year-old died in Gifford Rd about 1.30am on Sunday after partygoers spilled into the street and began fighting.

Two men - a 16-year-old and a 24-year-old - were charged with assault and appeared in the Manukau Youth Court yesterday.

Their names, the dead man's name and details of the incident were suppressed and both were remanded in custody until next week.

Family of the dead man filled the public gallery. His mother sat in the front row with his 5-year-old daughter.

Outside court, the mother said they had told the little girl her father was gone, but she did not understand. The girl held a small picture of her father and was comforted by family members.

"It's a worry to us she is asking where Dad is. We already told her that her Dad is gone ... she still says no, she wants to see her Dad."

She did not want to say much about the incident that killed her son but offered forgiveness to those involved.

"We forgive [them] for what they have done to my son. It doesn't matter he is dead, we still forgive them."

The mother said her family's priority was getting the body back for burial after the completion of a post mortem examination yesterday.