Woman charged in killings 'coping as best she can'

Memorial to be erected for eight dead children

An Australian mother charged with killing eight children will have her case heard in January, a court said on Monday, as she struggles to come to terms with what happened.

Raina Mersane Ina Thaiday, 37, also known as Mersane Warria, is accused of eight counts of murder after the bodies of the children were found in a house in the northern city of Cairns on Friday morning.

Seven of them were her children and she was an aunt to the eighth. The four girls and four boys were aged between 2 and 14.

The Cairns Magistrates Court refused an application by the woman's lawyer Steven MacFarlane for the next hearing, on Jan 30, to be held in a mental health court.

It was a procedural move by MacFarlane who said she was currently on an involuntary treatment order and would be assessed, "so once she gets assessed, then it may go to a mental health court at that stage".

MacFarlane said that Thaiday, who did not attend the hearing as she remained in a Cairns hospital with non life-threatening injuries, was still coming to terms with what happened.

"I've spoken to her, she's coping as best she can at the moment," he told reporters outside the court.

"I'm not a doctor, I think she probably knows what's happened but doesn't realize it. It hasn't sunk in, is my personal opinion only."

A 'long process'

The hearing came as the local member of the Queensland State Parliament, Gavin King, said the public housing home in the suburb of Manoora where the bodies were found could be demolished and a permanent memorial built on the site.

"I started that conversation on Saturday morning down at the site with various family representatives and local residents and various agencies," he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

"My conversations and directions from those people has been that they just want an appropriate memorial where they can pay their respects, local children and the community can use on a long-term basis," he said.

Police said on Sunday that crime scene investigators were still working in the house, describing it as a "long process".

"We still have experts there. It will be a long, hard road from here on in," Detective Inspector Bruno Asnicar said.

Officers have not revealed the cause of death of the children but said they were looking into various scenarios, including suffocation. They also said knives were found at the house.

Police have asked that media abide by the cultural protocols of the indigenous Torres Strait Islander community, to which the family belongs, and withhold the names and photos of the dead children.

AP - AFP - Reuters

(China Daily 12/23/2014 page11)