http://www.nzherald.co.nz/topic/story.cfm?c_id=124&objectid=10420099
NZ Herald
Herald on Sunday
January 21 2007; 05:00
Ten-year-old murder victim finally laid to rest
By Anna Leask
Relatives and friends farewell
Charlene Mazaka.
Family and close friends gathered in
the Christchurch suburb of Wigram yesterday to finally farewell 10-year-old
Charlene Makaza at a private funeral. Some were overcome with emotion as her
small, white casket was lifted into the hearse.
Charlene died about 1am on January 7
in Christchurch Hospital - only hours after her aunt found her in bed with
breathing difficulties.
A homicide inquiry was launched
after a post-mortem examination showed Charlene did not die of natural causes,
and may have been suffocated.
Five people in the house where
Charlene lived were questioned by police, including her 12-year-old sister and
two male cousins aged 20 and 24.
Police said, after an extensive
search, they found no evidence of an intruder on the property.
It was revealed last week that
Charlene had also been subjected to a violent sexual assault.
Police said the injuries were recent
and strongly suspected they were inflicted around the time of her death.
Final post-mortem results would not
be available for four to six weeks.
The coroner released Charlene's body
last week and family gathered yesterday to say their goodbyes.
Charlene's family declined to speak
to the Herald on Sunday and had asked the funeral director not to release any
information on the service to the media.
Lawyer Susan Lewis released a
statement on behalf of the family to the media last week. She said the family
was "very concerned that some reporting in the media was quite
misleading". The family just wanted to "let things lie", she
said.
Charlene and her sister were brought
to New Zealand from Zimbabwe about two years ago. They had been in the care of
their aunt and uncle since their parents died when Charlene was 5 months old.
Child Youth and Family confirmed
last week that Charlene's sister had been taken into CYF custody, but would not
say why.