Fundraiser Launched to Support Family of Seema Banu and Her Children

Originally from India, Seema Banu and her two children came to Ireland from Dubai, with her Irish husband. They lived in a small housing estate in Ballinteer, on the south side of Dublin.

People all over Ireland will likely be familiar now with the shocking news, which erupted last week, that Seema had her children had been murdered in their home. The Gardaí are investigating and have appealed for witnesses. There has been coverage on the 9 o’clock news on RTÉ – naturally, people in the locality are in a state of deep shock about what is an unconscionable crime taking place in their small neighbourhood.

RTÉ News also spoke to members of Seema Banu’s family, who had gathered in a house to mourn the loss of a young woman who was seen as a bright and shining light, within the wider family. It would seem impossible not to be moved by the expressions of grief, and the awful yearning that her family now feel that they should be able to pay their respects properly to their lost relative.

But as Hot Press has revealed in recent stories about the death of a man from Afghanistan in Ireland, the costs of repatriation are prohibitive. It is far more than any one family can afford, especially where an economy in which wages and rates of pay are very low by Irish standards is involved.

In a statement issued by organisers of a  GoFundMe campaign – initially set up to help pay for the repatriation of the bodies – it has been noted that the Indian Embassy "have advised that fundraising is not necessary for such purposes." As such, the GoFundMe campaign has been repurposed, "to ease any financial burden placed on those closest to  Seema and her children as a result of this tragedy".

You can support the GoFundMe here.