‘Daddy hurt me before he died’

The two girls who were held hostage by their father before he was eventually shot by police suffered superficial wounds caused by their father, family say.

The girls, aged 4 and 6, were held hostage for 15 hours by their machete-wielding father, Ethan Kerapa, on Sunday.

Family who visited the girls on Tuesday say the 6-year-old suffered a gash on her arm and the 4-yearold suffered a shallow puncture wound above her heart.

Photos taken of the injuries by family have been viewed by Stuff and show the abrasions family have described.

The family visitors say the girls told them their injuries were caused by ‘‘daddy, before he died’’.

Four of the family visitors spoke to Stuff but asked for anonymity to protect the identities of the children.

‘‘It was heart-breaking when I saw [the 6-year-old’s] arm,’’ a family member said. ‘‘She pulled up her sleeve to show me the gash and the bruising on her left arm, it was not a deep cut. [She] told me: Daddy hurt me before he died but I am OK. After she said that, I just started crying, hugged her and told her I loved her.’’

The 4-year-old suffered a shallow puncture wound on the left side of her chest.

‘‘She told us it was from her daddy,’’ an uncle to the girls said.

‘‘I just cried. No kids should have to go through what they went through on Sunday.’’

The family was told the girls did not require an overnight stay at the hospital for their injuries.

On Tuesday, Stuff revealed the traumatic relationship between the girls’ mother and Kerapa.

The mother, who is not named to protect the identities of her daughters, described frequent beatings and kidnappings she suffered in a tumultuous nine-year relationship with Kerapa.

The woman said she finally left in 2017 after Kerapa held her at knifepoint, then tried to run her and their children down in a car.

On Sunday, police described the situation they were faced with when they entered Kerapa’s Oriana Cres home.

They found Kerapa holding a large machete to the throat of one of the children. He retreated with both girls into a wardrobe. Police were able to rescue another child, a cousin of the two girls, at the house.

After multiple attempts to negotiate the children’s release, police re-entered the address where they were confronted by Kerapa, and shot him. He died at the scene.

The woman’s family said they were not surprised by Kerapa’s actions, given his abusive history.

They said Kerapa gave police little choice but to take drastic action to protect the girls. They supported the actions police took to make sure the girls came out of the situation alive.

‘‘He forced the police to make a choice, either let him hurt our babies or take him out. The police made the right decision,’’ a family member said.

‘‘Given what he did to their mother, there was no doubt that he was capable of hurting our girls, I mean look they have wounds from their dad. Better it was him than them.’’