'Curse' had to be defeated, court told

Photo gallery: Makutu case accused

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CRAIG SIMCOX/The Dominion Post Zoom

Hall Jones Wharepapa, 46, is jointly charged with the manslaughter of Janet Moses.

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The mother of Janet Moses - who was allegedly killed during an attempt to rid her of a curse - says she spent the night of the ritual in a bedroom next door with the door closed.

Olivia Rawiri said she could hear lots of voices but did not know what they were saying, and did not know what was happening.

"I didn't see nothing, so I don't know," she told a jury in the High Court at Wellington today.

Ms Rawiri said she was scared of what was causing her daughter to behave strangely and believed it was a makutu or curse.

Five of her sisters and one brother are on trial - with the partners of three of them - charged with the manslaughter of Ms Moses, 22, on October 12, 2007, at Wainuiomata.

The court has heard a large group of people crowded into Ms Rawiri's father's one-bedroom flat. Ms Rawiri said she was in the bedroom with her partner and about 10 children. One of the accused, Hall Wharepapa, also came into sleep but she could not remember the time.

Earlier, Ms Rawiri acknowledged some people would think the idea of a makutu or curse making her daughter sick was "crazy".

She agreed under cross-examination that when a makutu came it had to be defeated or repelled.

"That is how I see it," she said.

Ms Rawiri agreed she had needed her siblings to fight the battle against the makutu because she found it hard because Ms Moses was her daughter.

"I felt my family did the best they could."

THE ACCUSED, THE CHARGES

Nine members of Janet Moses' extended family are charged with her manslaughter, which the Crown alleges was the result of an attempt to remove a curse a makutu or evil spirit.

Two people, whose names are suppressed, are charged with cruelty to a 14-year-old girl in their care.

The charges date from October 12, 2007, at Wainuiomata, when the Crown alleges Ms Moses and others were subjected to a water-based ceremony resulting in Ms Moses drowning.

- © Fairfax NZ News