Friends of 82-year-old Fiji Indian woman who was found dead at her Avondale residence are in a state of shock after losing their friend and companion.
Mystery shrouds around the burglary and death of the elderly woman identified as Rampiari whose post mortem has so far indicated that her death was a medical event.
“Initial results from the post-mortem indicated that her death was likely due to a medical event, however we are still waiting for results from forensic tests before this can be confirmed,” police media release on Thursday, October 17 said.
Police were called to a residence in Avondale on Tuesday, October 8 just after 4 p.m. after a woman was found lying dead in the hallway of the house with the residence ransacked and items of value reported missing.
In the initial report, police believed that the burglary occurred sometime between 10:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. and one of the items taken in the burglary included jewellery.
Police released the photo of the jewellery missing in the hope that someone might have any information that will assist their investigation.
Piece of jewellery missing from the house after burglary last week. Image released by police. (Image Supplied by NZ Police)
Police are investigating the burglary as the intruder still remains at large and police has reiterated that they have not found any evidence that links Mrs Rampiari’s death to the burglary that occurred in the house.
According to sources Mrs Rampiari came to New Zealand in 2006 and was a regular visitor to Shanti Niwas Charitable Trust, a community organisation that provides a range of services to senior citizens of the South Asian community living in Auckland, including advocacy, counselling, emergency homes and recreational facilities.
“Mrs Rampiari was a quiet yet happy person and was regular to Shanti Niwas for more than a decade,” General Manager of Shanti Niwas, Nilima Venkat told The Indian Weekender.
“She would come to our recreational activities with other seniors every Wednesday beautifully dressed in fancy Indian ethnic wears and would participate in activities.
“She would remain in a group of her friends at the centre, enjoy the show such as dance and singing activities as a spectator,” Ms Venkat added.
An old image of Mrs Rampiari (1st from left in blue dress) at a restaurant in Auckland (Image supplied by Shanti Niwas)
Ms Venkat further said that last Wednesday, her Shanti Niwas friends went to pick her up at her residence when they witnessed the property cordoned off and a huge presence of police and forensics.
The group came to Shanti Niwas centre and revealed the tragic news of her sudden and mysterious demise to the rest of the seniors at the centre and have been shaken up ever since.
Mrs Rampairi’s funeral and cremation was conducted on Monday, October 14, in the presence of her family members according to the Indian tradition, which was well attended by community members.
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