THE MOTHER OF two young boys killed by their father in 2013 says that he was perfectly sane at the time of the murders.
Kathleen Chada’s sons Eoghan and Ruairi were killed by their father Sanjeev in July 2013.
The two young boys, aged 10 and five, were found dead in Mayo following a single-car crash near Westport. Their bodies were found in the boot of the vehicle.
The boys had been reported missing the previous evening and gardaí had issued a child rescue alert. Sanjeev Chada was sentenced to two life sentences in 2014. Yesterday his wife Kathleen secured a High Court judgment of over €77,000 against him.
Speaking to Pat Kenny on Newstalk FM today, she called the decision “part of a process”.
“It was part of the separation proceedings. I wouldn’t have expected it to make news. The process wasn’t difficult.”
She added that she has not been in contact with her husband since the tragic events.
There is no and never will be a good enough reason for why he did this. I have had nothing to do with Sanj since and don’t expect that I ever will. We went from normal to where we are now in the space of a few hours.
Normal
Speaking about the events of the day, Kathleen said that things began “normally”.
He was taking them out bowling is what he told me. There had been issues in the previous two weeks, but nothing that led us to where we are today. The fact that he had Eoghan and Ruairi with him meant he was safe, in my mind.
“Nothing would have ever led me to think that he would hurt the boys. I know it’s a difficult one to say, but I know he loved the boys. But none of that matters, he knew what he was doing. Nothing will ever excuse what he did. Eoghan and Ruairi were the innocents in all of this.”
She added that letters read out at his trial, where Sanjeev told the boys “mammy is getting rid of me” were the hardest to hear.
As far as I was concerned, we were still a family. This was a bad time, but we were going to get through it. We could have gotten through it.
“Even if we wouldn’t, Eoghan and Ruairi shouldn’t have been the victims in all of this.”
Life since
Speaking about life since the murder, Kathleen said that she tries to remain positive.
There isn’t a one size fits all on something like this. You continue living with something like this and want for something to come out of it. For me it’s about talking about grief and the effects of grief. I could let bitterness and anger eat me up. I could have taken to my bed, I could have refused to come out. I’ve chosen not to because it’s not in me.
“For me, the victory is getting up and getting out into the world every day.”
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