The brother of an Indian woman who suffered a violent death at a house in Cork is to travel to Ireland this week to be reunited with his young nephew and to organise the repatriation of the body of his sister to her native country.
Deepa Dinamani, who was a native of Kerala in southern India, was pronounced dead at the home she shared with her husband and son in Cardinal Court, in Wilton on the southside of Cork city, last Friday night. The emergency services were called to the redbrick terraced house in a quiet cul de sac shortly after 10pm.
The Indian community in Cork has rallied since the death of the chartered accountant (38), who only moved to Ireland in recent months. A candlelit vigil was held in her memory outside her home in Wilton on Sunday night. Some 150 people placed flowers in front of a framed picture of Ms Dinamani that was positioned on the doorstep of her home.
Dr Lekha Menon Margassery, president of the World Malayalee Council Cork, said Indian people living in Cork are assisting the brother of the deceased as he makes the journey to Ireland to bring the body of his only sibling home.
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“We are working on the repatriation process. Her brother needs to submit certain forms and to get them notarised by the authorities. He has to send all those emails to the Embassy. He is travelling today to his parents because he is in a different state [in India]. And then he will come here. He is still in shock. He cannot process it. [The vigil] was nice. It was good for us to be as one and to be united as we pass on our condolences.
“The [Cork city] council messaged me to pass on their condolences. We are trying to sort the repatriation out ... the protocol and what is required,” he said. Ms Dinamani’s employer had offered help, he said, while the Indian community in Cork was fundraising to help with the cost of repatriation.
Ms Margassery, who is also president of the UCC Indian Alumni Association, said Irish people who feel they can help the family in any way can contact her at corkwmc@gmail.com.
Ms Dinamani was a chartered accountant with more than a decade of experience and had worked in a Cork firm since April. In a statement Alter Domus, where Deepa had been employed as a senior funds manager, said it was “shocked and deeply saddened” by the events that took place in Cork on Friday evening.
“We lost a wonderful person and colleague who will be missed by many at Alter Domus. Our thoughts are with Deepa’s family at this tragic time.”
The alarm was raised when Ms Dinamani failed to collect her five-year-old son from the house of a friend on Friday after a summer camp.
Her body was transferred to the morgue at Cork University Hospital at 10.40am on Saturday. A postmortem was carried out by Chief State Pathologist Dr Linda Mulligan.
A man (41) was subsequently charged with the murder of Ms Dinamani contrary to Common Law. Regin Parithapara Rajan, her husband, appeared before a special sitting of Cork District Court on Sunday. Judge Olann Kelleher remanded him in custody pending his next court appearance by video link on Thursday.