Te Kuiti baby death, near Hamilton, New Zealand: Horror after baby boy dies from 'blunt-force trauma'

A homicide investigation has been launched after a 10-month-old baby boy tragically died after sustaining violent, blunt-force trauma.

Mustafa Ali arrived unconscious at Te Kuiti Hospital, south of Hamilton on the North Island, on Saturday afternoon but was unable to be resuscitated.

Police claim the 10-month-old died from injuries sustained during a violent, non-accidental attack.

'Tragically, despite the best efforts of medical personnel, he was unable to be resuscitated,' Detective Inspector Graham Pitkethley said. 

Investigators have since scoured the family home where Mustafa lived with his father, Mukzameel Ali, mother and several family members.

While the family are cooperating with police, Det Insp Pitkethley said their statements differed from what police believe happened to the boy.

'The mother of the child and the father of the child are both speaking to (police),' he explained.

'I have, personally, some concerns in regards to inconsistencies with the statement.' 

He added that a postmortem examination will be carried out in the coming days but initial results led to police not believing the child's injuries were accidental.

Det Insp Pitkethley revealed police were preparing to conclude an investigation into non-accidental injuries Mustafa sustained in October.

'That inquiry, and investigation, was due to be completed shortly, unfortunately before the death of Mustafa,' he said. 

Oranga Tamariki, New Zealand's ministry of children, said it had been involved with the family before Mustafa's death in conjunction with police investigations.

A neighbour to the family told media that he heard a women in hysterics about 2pm Saturday.

He claims to have seen a car arrive at the house just minutes later, picked up the person screaming and drove off.

'I guess, that's when they went to hospital'. 

Det Insp Pitkethley said police were aware of the reports but was 'not willing to comment further'.

The sudden death has sent shockwaves through the small community, particularly 'those who lived near the scene'.

The family's landlord and friend from the local mosque, Moshif Hussain, remembered Mustafa as the 'joy of the house'.

'The community is really distressed,' he told RNZ.

'Everyone likes to cuddle babies, so everyone had some kind of connection with the baby, so everyone is quite sad and they're stressed ... and worried of how it happened.' 

Anyone who heard screaming or has information regarding the incident has been urged to contact police.