Wellington - Traditional Maori attempts to exorcise a curse with water, wailing and prayer ended with the drowning of a mother of two in front of 40 family members, according to reports Monday. Janet Moses, 22, died in a ritual at a relatives' house, as her family attempted to drive out a Maori "makutu" (curse). The Maori are the indigenous people of New Zealand.
Moses lay dead in for nine hours before her relatives and onlookers called the police, according to the New Zealand newspaper the Dominion Post.
A neighbour told the newspaper that on the night of the death he had heard loud wailing and thumping noises, "like banging on a wall."
The newspaper reported that Moses had drowned in an "extensive amount" of water, held in large plastic containers in the lounge of a relative's home in the nation's capital of Wellington.
A family member said that the family believed the curse was put on Moses after a relative stole a "taonga" (Maori sacred treasure).
He also told the newspaper that another family member was sick and the illness was part of the curse.
A Maori religious archdeacon told the Dominion Post that removal of "makutu" would often involve prayer, chanting and ceremonies that used water to cleanse - though usually in small amounts.
There was sometimes a physical element to the curse-lifting, as the victim needed to be held in place as the spirit fought against its removal.
The police have launched a homicide investigation into the women's death.
