A young girl was brutally k*lled by her father because she never smiled at him, a court in New Zealand has been told.
Angered by what thought was the 'spoilt behaviour' of his two-year-old daughter, the father threw her against a wall and then stomped on her, it was alleged.
Kefu Ikamanu has pleaded not guilty in the New Zealand High Court in Auckland to murdering his daughter Seini by breaking her shoulder, injuring her with intent by breaking her pelvis and causing a brain injury.
He had hauled Seini against a wall and then stomped on her because she never smiled at him, Crown Prosecutor Phil Hamlin told the jury as the burly defendant listened to the evidence being presented against him.
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| THE ACCUSED FATHER |
She received fatal injuries in the incident on March 24, 2010, 21 days before her third birthday.
'It appears Mr Ikamanu himself was not able to form a close bond with her,' Mr Hamil told the court.
'He became frustrated and angry with what he thought was the spoilt behaviour of his young daughter.
The court heard that Seini had only recently been reunited with her family after living with her grandparents in Tonga for most of her life.
When she was taken to the Starship Hospital in Auckland doctors found extensive bleeding on her brain, a broken shoulder and a shattered pelvis.
The broken bones in her pelvis were similar to crush injuries doctors found in children who had been run over by motor vehicles, the court was told.
'The injuries she sustained were beyond what doctors could put right, although they tried,' Mr Hamlin told the court.
Seini died eight months later as a result of pneumonia which Mr Hamlin said had been caused by the injury to her brain.
The case is continuing.
