The evil husband of Seema Banu rang her family in the days after strangling her and her kids - telling them: “I don’t know when and how it happened.”
Monster Sameer Syed then sobbed and did not say another word as the family demanded answers while also begging him to allow the bodies return back to India.
Seema’s grieving family knew that the thug had murdered his wife, 37, and children Asfira Riza, 11, and six-year-old Faizan Syed at her home in Rathfarnham, South Dublin in October 2020 after she had previously told them of the abuse she had been subjected to.
Read more: Gardai to help grief stricken family of Seema Banu visit graves after brutal murder
Her relatives liaised with the Indian embassy and the gardai to pass on their number to Syed.
They had hoped that they would get financial assistance to get the bodies back to India.
But Syed – who took his life in prison last week – denied any wrongdoing in a phone call to the Banu family before refusing to let Seema and her children’s remains be repatriated.
Seema’s nephew Kashief Ahmed told the Irish Mirror: “He just said, ‘I don’t know when and how it happened’ and started crying. We knew he was lying at that time.”
Another family member, who asked not to be named, added: “The family wanted to bring the bodies home and to have the graves nearby as we do not have the financial means to visit Ireland.
“But Sameer wanted to bury them in Ireland and the family did not permit that.”
Although Syed was the chief suspect in the case, at the time he remained a free man as gardai built a case against him.
The bodies of Seema and little Asfira Riza and Faizan Syed were released back to him and he had a service here before they were buried in Dublin.
The family watched the ceremony on a projector in India but never got to see the faces of their loved ones ever again.
Syed was arrested in November 2020 and charged with the three murders and had been in custody since.
The 38-year-old was due to stand trial for the three deaths this week but took
his own life in his cell in Portlaoise last Thursday.
The Irish Mirror revealed at the weekend how Syed had tried to strangle Seema twice before he killed her as we detailed the physical and mental abuse she had to endure at the hands of her evil husband.
And we also learned that Seema had previously lodged a number of complaints with Indian police about the abuse she had suffered from the monster.
Gardai were assisting the family to come over for the end of the trial but they have now offered to help bring them here to visit the graves.
Investigators were confident of getting convictions against Syed for the murders because of the weight of evidence against him.
He was caught because the burner phone he was carrying on the day of the murders had previously connected with the wifi at his wife’s home.
Six months before their deaths, Syed carried out a violent assault on his late wife, and was before the central criminal court at the time.
In the meantime, he had been ordered to stay away from the
family home and had moved to a new address in
Rathmines, South Dublin.
Read more: Pain is 'constant' for family of woman and her two kids who died tragically
Read more: Family agony as they cannot say goodbye to tragic South Dublin murder victims
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