Fractured season finale: Good news at last

It began with a single email.
In November 2023, Joris de Bres, a former New Zealand Human Rights and Race Relations Commissioner, wrote to Newsroom's investigations editor Melanie Reid with the subject line: 'Separated by the State'.
De Bres described how he'd been helping an Auckland-based couple who had arrived in New Zealand from India to make a life for themselves in what they called 'the dream country'.
What followed could only be described as a dystopian nightmare: a mother jailed, their baby put into foster care and both parents facing deportation without their daughter.
The whole story is examined in detail in DELVE's latest podcast investigation, Fractured, which takes listeners deep inside the bureaucracy to show exactly what happens when a family is trapped by the full weight of government agencies working in lockstep.
'We set out to discover whether the baby at the centre of our Fractured investigation was put into a foster home and her mother sent to prison based on a flawed diagnosis. We ended up plowing head first into a scandal of international proportions,' says Reid.
Throughout the making of the podcast, it seemed as though there was no light at the end of the tunnel, 'it was just more bad news on top of more bad news'.
'It's a pretty tough listen at times, but for those who have never experienced something like this it shows inch by inch what it's truly like to be in a situation you never ever imagined could happen to you.'
The father at the centre of the case, Ravi (not his real name), told Reid in their first interview in 2023: 'I came here for a better future – a better future for my family, to grow myself here, find a better job and make a happy life here. Now we are living as if we are dead.'
Eighteen months later, and the release of the final episode of Fractured Season 2 reveals some great news at last.
'Overwhelming' evidence
Four years ago, the mother at the centre of the case, who we call Zita, was convicted of intentionally hurting her infant daughter. At her sentencing, the judge described the medical evidence as 'overwhelming'.
During Zita's three-week trial, four doctors from Starship Hospital told the jury the injuries her baby had suffered were non-accidental and 'abusive head trauma', the rebranded term that replaced 'shaken baby syndrome'.
No expert medical witnesses appeared for the mother's defence. She was found guilty and sent to prison for two years and seven months. Zita has always maintained she did not, and would not ever, hurt her daughter, who we call Baby K.
The pediatrician from Starship Hospital's child abuse unit, which diagnosed the then-eight-week-old Baby K's injuries as non-accidental, did so less than 24 hours after she had been admitted to hospital. Every authority has fallen in behind that diagnosis since then.
In the intervening years, the little girl was put into four different foster homes, and Oranga Tamariki would not allow her father – who has no convictions – to regain custody of his child, despite his repeated requests.
On the day Zita was released from prison after serving almost her entire sentence, Oranga Tamariki secured a court order to keep Baby K in New Zealand under the care of the state.
Zita and Ravi leave court. Photo: Supplied
On top of this, Zita faced imminent deportation back to India, and because Ravi's visa was tied to his wife's, he too faced deportation – which would, in essence, orphan their daughter.
Over the past year and a half, Melanie Reid and her team have been conducting extensive inquiries into this complex case for Fractured.
In the course of that investigation, Reid secured Baby K's high-resolution 3D CT scans, x-rays, birth records and fetal heart monitoring tracings, and engaged four top-end international medical specialists to review them.
'International medical experts cost tens of thousands of dollars so there were a lot of hurdles for us to overcome. But we wanted the top people in their fields with no agendas, who were not subject to circular reasoning or institutional bias,' said Reid.
The Fractured investigation approached experts in genetics, neurosurgery, obstetrics and neuropathology from Canada, Norway, the Netherlands and the United States.
'We of course did not know when we got the medical files reviewed if they would come back for or against the mother at the centre of this case.'
They each wrote a formal report and provided evidence that the likely causes of Baby K's injuries were related to her labour and delivery, and her severely low levels of vitamin D.
This new evidence casts serious doubt over Zita's conviction.
The CCRC
Along the way, Reid and her team did something no journalist has done before in NZ – they teamed up with de Bres and made a submission on behalf of the mother to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), which included the evidence from the international experts.
Set up in 2020, the commission reviews cases in which there is a potential miscarriage of justice or unsafe conviction, and can refer them back to an appeal court.
'It is not usual for us as journalists to be making submissions to the CCRC, but in this case I felt like we had no choice,' says Reid.
'This mother had her baby uplifted at 10 weeks old and her child is now six. The removal of her child and her subsequent conviction is based on medical evidence that we can now prove is flawed.
'There is growing concern internationally among medical and legal experts about the misdiagnosis or the over-diagnosis of non-accidental injury, and New Zealand is no exception.'
Since Fractured was published, Reid and her team have been approached by other families who have also been affected by this diagnosis, including a farming family from Central Otago, a father currently imprisoned in Auckland and another young family from the South Island.
They will feature in the upcoming season 3 of Fractured.
Good news at last
A year after Zita's release from prison, and after much effort from de Bres, Oranga Tamariki began allowing Zita regular supervised access with her daughter.
'It is so amazing. She's so happy. I'm so happy when she's here. She say I'm the best mum,' Zita tells Reid with a smile.
During this time, Zita had applied for refugee status with the Immigration Protection Tribunal, which turned it down, which she then appealed. While awaiting the outcome of the appeal, the ever-present threat of deportation meant all ground she was gaining with her daughter was going to collapse if she was sent back to India for good.
On April 14, at the Family Court in Auckland, following years of ongoing appearances, the orders relating to Baby K were discharged.
This means not only have the restrictions preventing her from leaving the country been lifted, but Baby K is officially no longer under the care of the state and custody has been handed back to her parents.
More than six years after their daughter was uplifted by the state, Baby K is now back with Zita and Ravi.
But that's not all.
Just days before the mother was set to be removed from New Zealand, Associate Minister of Immigration Chris Penk intervened, cancelling her deportation order and issuing her a 12-month work visa.
'I have decided to cancel Zita's deportation liability and grant her a special direction under section 17 of the Immigration Act 2009 for her convictions in relation to the injuries sustained by her daughter,' Penk wrote in his decision.
'This will allow her to remain in New Zealand while her application to the Criminal Cases Review Commission is assessed.'
Penk wrote that he made his decision after carefully considering the supporting letters and documentation.
(As always, it seems with this case, it comes with a snag – Immigration NZ has issued Ravi a new visa; however unlike his previous visas, it does not allow him to work.)
In the last piece of good news, the Criminal Cases Review Commission emailed to say it had accepted Reid and de Bres' submission for review, which paves the way for a potential referral to an appeal court.
For Zita and Ravi, simply being a family again is most important of all, expressed in an email Ravi sent to Reid and de Bres:
'Thanks you very much to all of you from the bottom of my heart,' wrote Ravi. 'If all of you were not in our life then perhaps this day will never come in our life. After all your hard work and efforts we got our daughter back. What seemed impossible to us, you all thought about it and saw it. Thanks you very much to all of you on behalf of our entire family.'
Listen to both seasons of Fractured on our podcast channel DELVE.
Since 2023, DELVE has produced more than 90 episodes across four award-winning investigative podcast series. With more than 5.5 million downloads, DELVE sits in the top 0.1 percent most downloaded podcasts in the world.
Fractured has also been nominated for Best News and Current Affairs Podcast at the 2025 NZ Radio and Podcast Awards.

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

Scoop

16 minutes ago

• Scoop

Meth And MDMA Seized In Joint Police/Customs Investigation

Press Release – New Zealand Police This investigation is ongoing but we are confident we have made a dent in this syndicates supply chain and the charges reflect the seriousness of the alleged offending. NZ Police and Customs have disrupted a Wellington-based syndicate dealing a variety of drugs into the community, seizing 23 kilograms of methamphetamine and more than 1000 MDMA pills. Over the past month a joint NZ Police and New Zealand Customs investigation – Operation Armani – identified a group smuggling significant amounts of drugs into New Zealand over a number of months. The 23 kilos of methamphetamine was intercepted at the border and has a street value of more than $8 million dollars. The MDMA seized has a street value of around $50,000. Last week the National Organised Crime Group, Customs, district investigators and specialist support groups executed a number of search warrants across the Wellington district. As a result four men, aged 26 to 30-years-old and residing in the Hutt Valley and Wellington city, are facing a range of serious charges. They include the import and supply of methamphetamine, and possession for supply of cocaine, MDMA and cannabis. Police also located a loaded pistol and ammunition, which has also resulted in charges. The four men have appeared in the Lower Hutt and Wellington District Courts. 'This investigation demonstrates how the excellent work of frontline Customs officers combined with the collaborative efforts of our Police partners is protecting our communities from the scourge of illicit drugs,' says Acting Customs Investigations Manager Matt Green. 'This is an enormous amount of serious harm being peddled into our communities, with these suppliers giving no conscious thought to the impact on those they are supplying to,' says Detective Inspector Darrin Thomson of NZ Police's National Organised Crime Group. 'Meth is a highly addictive illicit substance that often leads to addiction and violence. It brings misery to families and relationships. Keeping New Zealand safe from those deriving profit from this offending is a priority for NZ Police.' 'This investigation is ongoing but we are confident we have made a dent in this syndicate's supply chain and the charges reflect the seriousness of the alleged offending. Evidence gathered at the scene will allege that this syndicate had been operating for some time, and that Police and Customs' actions have dismantled their offending and prevented future harm.'

RNZ News

an hour ago

• RNZ News

Teens arrested after aggravated robbery, fleeing in stolen car in Auckland

Photo: RNZ / REECE BAKER A 14-year-old and a 16-year-old have been arrested following an aggravated robbery in Auckland's suburb of New Lynn on Monday morning. The police said one of them was armed with a knife when they entered a convenience store on Parker Avenue about 8.30am. They reportedly stole the till before fleeing in a stolen car. The pair were arrested after police found the stolen vehicle nearby. They will be appearing in the Waitākere Youth Court. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

RNZ News

2 hours ago

• RNZ News

Man surrenders after assault leaves two injured at sports complex near Sikh temple

Takanini Gurdwara Sri Kalgidhar Sahib. Photo: Google Maps A man has turned himself into police Monday after two people were injured in an assault at a sports complex located next to a Sikh temple in South Auckland over the weekend. Police said the attacker had entered the sports complex next to Takanini Gurdwara Sri Kalgidhar Sahib and approached a man known to him about 5pm on Sunday. "He has begun to assault the man, before bystanders have intervened to stop the offending," Detective Senior Sergeant Simon Taylor said. The victim and a second person both suffered minor injuries during the assault. Both received treatment at a local medical centre. Security removed the man, and he was seen getting into a vehicle before police arrived on scene, Taylor said. Taylor said the assault was not believed to be a hate-motivated crime. "We acknowledge that this incident was confronting for those who were present at the temple at the time," Taylor said. "However, we have established that this incident occurred as a result of a dispute between two parties known to each other." Police had conducted "reassurance patrols" around the temple due to the assault, Taylor said. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.