Angel the transexual, whose ‘bashing’ prompted an outpouring of sympathy, actually fell out of a TREE
- Police said New Zealander Anahera ‘Angel’ Rangitaawa, 33 suffered ‘unexplained’ head injuries
- Family and friends pointed blamed unknown perpetrators and vented on social media
- Aunt Esther Topfer suggested she was targeted because of her transgender
- Police investigations later revealed she was not beaten, but fell out tree
A New Zealand transgender woman, whose family sparked an outpouring of sympathy online when they thought she was bashed, actually sustained her injuries after falling from a tree.
Police said Anahera «Angel» Rangitaawa, 33, was found near the Copthorne Hotel in Palmerston North, near Wellington, in the early hours of Sunday morning.At first police said they could not explain the critical injuries to her face, skull and other parts of her body when she was taken to Wellington Hospital and placed in an induced coma.
But what Angel’s family first suspected was a targeted attack because of her gender, actually turned out to be something much less sinister when police confirmed she had fallen from a tree.
Anahera «Angel» Rangitaawa was taken to a Wellington hospital with sever head injuries after she fell from a tree she tried to climb.
Her family, including aunt Esther Topfer, was of the belief that the woman had been attacked by a gang of men and took their frustration to Facebook
Esther Topfer, the woman’s aunt, made the incredible accusation that she was the victim of a targeted assault and even suggested that the area which she was found, Palmerston North, was the ‘transbash capital of New Zealand.’
In a post on Facebook, Ms Topfer alleged ‘Angel’ was attacked by three men. ‘I am saddened and appalled that in the 21st Century ignorant, judgmental and evil people can smash a person to within an inch of their life for being who they are,’ she wrote.
A police spokeswoman, when contacted by Daily Mail Australia, could not confirm why the family came to that assumption, however investigating officer Detective Johnny Oram said ‘it appeared the victim’s injuries where not suspicious’ confirming she fell from a tree she tried to climb.
The transgender woman is out of a coma, but remains in a serious but stable condition in a Wellington Hospital.
While Ms Topfer kept update’s of Angel’s condition coming through on Facebook, followers, friends and family of the transgender woman made their feelings known, calling her unknown and now non-existent attackers ‘bastards.’
‘My heart is aching while reading of the horrible injuries these bastards have put upon her.I am so sorry this happened to you girl, my prayers are with you and your loved ones xo,’ Nikki Lee Carlson wrote.
Beck-Lee Briggs wanted the ‘perpetrators’ to feel the full force of the law. ‘Praying the strength she had to live a life true to herself also gets her through this.And that the perpetrators are removed from our streets asap. Sending love to her and TRAVESTIS LISBOA her family.’
Others accused New Zealand police of not doing their job properly by not being able to explain what happened to the transgender woman. ‘Unexplained’ is typical police hype downplay,’ one commenter wrote.
When Ms Topfer was informed that her niece fell, she publicly apologised but defended her outrage saying ‘that was the initial details they (police) were given.’
‘I would like to thank you all for the outpouring of sincere kindness that you have all shown in this near tragic event.Love and best wishes, Esther,’ she wrote.