Postmortem results of mother and two children found dead in Dublin will be revealed soon

DUBLIN: The cause of the death of Seema Banu and her children, who died in the capital yesterday, is expected to be revealed soon. Although Gardai had said yesterday that the two children had been strangled, they had made it clear that the cause of death of their mother could only be ascertained after the postmortem.

While it has not been disclosed whether Seema Banu has committed suicide or has been murdered, the general suspicion is that she too has been murdered. Whatever, it is believed that the exact cause of death could be known today after the postmortem.

On Thursday, Dr. Heidi Okkers, Locum Assistant State Pathologist, started postmortems on the remains of Seema Banu (37) and her 11-year-old daughter Asfira Riza and 6-year-old son Faizan Syed, but had not completed. However, it is expected to be finished by today. Then the outside world will know the real cause of their mother’s death.

Gardai had said that two children were strangled to death and their bodies were found in a bedroom at their home in Ballinteer. But a note was also found near the mother’s body, who had been found dead in another bedroom.

Although a preliminary postmortem was performed on Ms. Banu’s remains, it was learned that a more thorough examination was needed and could be completed by Friday.

The Gardai has not yet received enough evidence to arrest the chief suspect in this shocking case. Therefore, while the suspect is under 24-hour Garda surveillance, no arrests have been made so far.

“There are many strands to this investigation and, apart from definitively establishing the causes of deaths, there is a massive forensic examination still ongoing at the property in Ballinteer which has so far failed to yield enough evidence to make an arrest,” a senior source said.

He said there was a problem with the CCTV at the scene and the suspect in the case was not caught in it. “All this means at the moment is that he is a free man but that does not mean he is not under constant watch until gardaí are in a position to proceed,” he added.

Meanwhile, Gardaí had appealed for anyone with information on this case to come forward.

Gardaí found the body around Wednesday evening and the squad suspects that the mother and two children died during the bank holiday weekend.

Ms. Seema and family arrived in Dublin in February from their native Bangalore, India. Her two children, Faizan Syed and Asfira Riza were studying in the nearby Ballinteer Educate Together National School. Faizan was in First Class and his sister Asfira was in Sixth Class.

Their school principal, Orlaith Curran, said that everyone who knew them would greatly miss the children.

Indian Ambassador Sandeep Kumar

Indian Ambassador in Ireland Sandeep Kumar visited the spot yesterday and paid tributes to the deceased family.

He spoke to Seema Banu’s family in Bangalore on the phone and consoled them. He assured them that the embassy would extend all possible assistance in such a critical situation.

He said that if necessary, assistance will be provided to bring the bodies to India. Mr. Sandeep said he knew that the deceased Seema Banu had a few relatives in Ireland and that they had been in touch with the Garda.