Police name Naenae hit-and-run victim as Anita Rani

Police investigate the scene of a fatal crash on Naenae Rd, Lower Hutt. Photo / Mark Mitchell

The name of the woman who died in a hit-and-run in Wellington last Thursday has been released by police.

She was 62-year-old Anita Rani of Naenae. Rani was struck by a dark grey Mazda 6 sedan on Naenae Rd last week, and the vehicle immediately left the scene.

The vehicle involved in the Naenae hit-and-run is a dark grey Mazda 6 sedan which was stolen from an address in Belmont in the early hours of the morning. Photo / NZ Police

Police revealed later the car had been stolen from an address in Belmont before the hit-and-run, and it was recovered from Waddington Drive in Naenae later the same day at 12.20pm.

Although the car has been found, the driver is still on the loose.

Detective Inspector Haley Ryan urged the driver to come forward and report to police.

“The driver of that vehicle will know they have hit a person, and in all likelihood they will be panicking right now.

“I urge the driver or any occupant of that vehicle to come forward and speak to us, as we want to understand the events that have led to this tragedy.”

Neighbours feel ‘sick’ at tragic hit-and-run

Neighbours from the street where Rani was killed said they were sickened by the tragedy, with one woman telling the Herald on Thursday she had lit a candle in honour of Rani.

“I just really feel for the poor person and their family.”

Another neighbour who did not wish to be named told the Herald she had heard a “thud and a fast car” in the early hours of the morning.

“I didn’t think too much of it because we have a few fast cars through here and I just thought they’d hit a rubbish bin or something.”

Once she went to her gate to check out what had happened, she saw the body lying in the road and police swarming the area.

Police at the scene of a fatal hit-and-run on Naenae Rd, Lower Hutt. Photo / Mark Mitchell

“A few of the neighbours were out on the street and watching, but it’s one of those things where you don’t feel like hanging around because the person is deceased.

“It’s grim. It’s just sobering. I just keep thinking there’s a family that’s been affected - it’s awful to think how long they were lying there but it’s a serious crime scene I suppose so there’s not much you can do about it.”

A police investigation is ongoing into who was driving the vehicle which struck her, and police said they are providing support to her family.

-More to come.

Vita Molyneux is a Wellington-based journalist who covers breaking news and stories from the capital. She has been a journalist since 2018 and joined the Herald in 2021.