Lower Hutt police say a woman died of drowning in a Wainuiomata house during a ritualistic ceremony.
Police have upgraded their investigation into the death of a 22-year-old woman to a homicide inquiry over what appears to have been an exorcism to remove a makutu, a Maori curse.
It was exactly a month ago that police were called to this Wainuiomata house where a mother of two had died.
The house is now abandoned, but police have confirmed what took place inside is now the subject of a homicide inquiry.
''At this stage we have ruled out Janet's death as being a result of natural causes and are treating it as suspicious, and are treating it as a drowning,’’ Detective Senior Sergeant Ross Levy said today.
Police say 22-year-old Janet Moses died with a large number of family members present and watching.
They were involved in what's described as a ritual ceremony involving a substantial amount of water that was in plastic containers.
Levy: ''There was a ceremony taking place at the time of Janet’s death, there was water involved, but exactly what took place I am not prepared to go into detail at this stage.’’
The grandparents of Janet Moses are believed to have lived in the house but have now moved out. Police have interviewed over 40 family members but have reached no decision about charges
Levy: ''The next stage of our investigation is to make an assessment of all the information we have. The purpose of that assessment is to determine any culpability of any individual or individuals.’’
While police have upgraded Janet Moses death to a homicide inquiry they given no indication how long it will take to complete it, but what they will say is that investigation will continue to focus on family members.