GoFundMe, an American crowd funding platform, has come forward to raise money to repatriate the bodies of an Indian family killed in Dublin last Wednesday. The fundraiser is organised by Claire Tobin and Gemma Nol5 to help the family of the late Seema Banu and her two children during this difficult time.
The fundraiser began last night with the title, “Help Seema Banu and her children return home.” So far, they have raised around €4000.
One of the organiser Ms. Claire Tobin said on the fundraising page that she had been in touch with the Indian Embassy and the Assistant Consular Officer. “The matter is of course being dealt with by them and they have advised that fundraising is not necessary,” Ms. Tobin said.
Ms. Tobin says it doesn’t make sense to accept their advice until it is clear where the money will come from to help this family at such a tragic time.
In any case, the organisers have assured that all donations received will help alleviate the burden of expenses for those closest to Seema and her children. “I have requested the assistance of the Embassy in identifying where the funds raised are best directed,” Ms. Tobin said.
Meanwhile, Seema’s family had requested the Irish Government to help repatriate the bodies of Seema and her children to their native India. They had said that it would cost about €18,000 to repatriate the three bodies and that they could not afford it.
“I have no connection to Seema and her family but in the times we are in feel that such tragic circumstances, in such trying times, need as much support as possible that we can give!,” Ms. Tobin said.
Organiser Claire Tobin noted on the fundraising page that they were able to surpass the initial target of €1000 in just 12 hours.
A total of €3,934 has been raised so far. Currently, the new contributions to this fundraiser have been disabled by the organisers.