A woman whose two young sons were murdered by their father nearly 13 years ago has said she will no longer feel safe if he is released from prison.
Sanjeev Chada was handed two mandatory life sentences in 2014 after he pleaded guilty to the murder of his sons, ten-year-old Eoghan and five-year-old Ruairí, in 2023.
He has served 12 years in jail and has applied for parole, which he is entitled to do.
The boys' bodies were discovered in the boot of his car after it crashed into a wall near Westport in Co Mayo, on 29 July 2013.
Their mother, Kathleen Chada, said it seems wrong that her ex-husband is applying for parole, ahead of the 13th anniversary of their deaths.
"While he's in prison, I'm safe, that's the bottom line. I know that I'm safe. I won't feel that if he's released"
Speaking on RTÉ's Today with David McCullagh, Ms Chada said it feels like an insult to Eoghan and Ruairí that "he legally has a right to do it, that's the law, you know, but that he actually made a decision to act on that is an insult to the boys".
She said she met with two representatives of the parole board yesterday, saying the lead up to it was more difficult than the meeting itself, because they put her at ease and she felt heard.
She said preparing her submission was hard because she had to face the painful memories she has "managed to box away for several years".
Ms Chada said she knows that her former husband intended to kill her and said the parole board to hear all he is capable of and of her fears.
She explained that because he pleaded guilty, none of the details of his crime are known and she needed the parole board to know what he did to my children.
"They needed to know how he did it. They needed to know because he pled guilty. None of the details are out there, if you like. So, I needed them to know what he's capable of. And then secondly, I know ... from correspondence that he had left behind, that I came across, that he intended to kill me as well."
Ms Chada said she does not know if it is possible to rehabilitate him because he had the ability to "hide so much inside himself".
He slept beside me every night, she said, even though his intention had been to kill me for over a year.
"While he's in prison, I'm safe, that's the bottom line. I know that I'm safe. I won't feel that if he's released."
She said her life is good and happy "in as much as I will ever be happy, but said "it is not the life I want - I want my boys."
She described her "beautiful boys" as happy, bright, curious and loving boys who were very close to each other.
They had a great sense of justice, she said, which is why I am as vocal as I am on their behalf.
They really enjoyed life and taking their future from them was cruel, Ms Chada added.
"It's cruel that was taken because we don't know what the future would have been for them. And as a mother, that's really, really tough."
