EXCLUSIVE
The heartbroken father of a high-achieving HSC student who was found dead near a train station believes she may have been murdered, as he demands police show him footage of her final moments to rule out anyone else being involved.
Mamun Syeda’s 18-year-old daughter Samia disappeared from her apartment in Merrylands, western Sydney, shortly after 1am on Sunday, December 29.
She was found dead near Merrylands railway station a short time later, at 1.35am, and police treated her death as a suicide.
But Syeda believes her only daughter may have been the victim of foul play due to the mysterious circumstances surrounding her disappearance.
Speaking to Daily Mail Australia in her two-bedroom unit on Wednesday, Syeda doesn’t understand how her daughter could have left the house because both doors were locked with keys she keeps under her pillow while she sleeps.
Curiously, when he woke up early in the morning and found his daughter missing, the front entrance and sliding balcony door were still closed and the window of his bedroom, which is located twenty feet up a cement path, showed no sign. signs of tampering.
“Police need to get close-up footage as soon as possible and explain how my daughter was able to leave the apartment with the doors and windows closed,” Syeda told Daily Mail Australia.
‘For me, she didn’t commit suicide, she was murdered.
Samia Syeda, 18 (pictured), was found dead at Merrylands train station last month. Police are treating his death as a suicide.
Mamun Syeda (pictured) believes something sinister happened to her teenage daughter and wants her death to be further investigated.
Samia was found dead near Merrylands train station (pictured) in the early hours of December 29.
‘This is a horror story. But I have no proof.
‘The police need to find him. I (alone) cannot prove or disprove it.’
Syeda said the night of her daughter’s disappearance was like any other.
For security reasons, lock both doors and each night place a windbreak along the inside base of the main entrance.
Around one in the morning, his daughter said goodnight and closed the door to her room to put on her pajamas.
He went to bed at the same time and fell asleep 10 minutes later.
When Syeda, a Muslim originally from Bangladesh, woke up at 3 a.m. to perform his morning prayers, the door to his daughter’s bedroom was ajar and she appeared to still be asleep.
However, when he finished praying for an hour and passed by his room again, he noticed that something didn’t seem quite right.
He entered his room, removed his blanket and discovered that she was gone and in her place was a pile of clothes.
He immediately called the police, who upon arrival told him that there had been an incident at the local train station that may have involved his daughter.
In the photo, Samia’s bedroom. A pile of clothes remained under her blanket when Daily Mail Australia visited the house on Wednesday.
Syeda said the sliding door leading to the balcony (pictured) was locked when she went to bed and remained that way even after she discovered her daughter was missing.
The balcony, which is on the second floor, is difficult to access to the ground.
Officers showed Mr. Syeda photographs of the woman, whom he was able to identify as his daughter from the clothes she was wearing.
However, Syeda said he immediately checked the doors after discovering that she was missing, and that the stopper was still in the same position, indicating that no one had left through the main entrance.
He added that Samia did not have keys to the house, so she could not have left and then locked the doors again, and her window was not a viable exit option as it was too high above the ground.
Syeda is baffled as to how she could have left unless someone had slipped her away, and wants the police to collect and show him footage of her journey from her home to the train station, which takes about eight minutes on foot.
‘I fell asleep at 1:10am and didn’t hear any unusual noises. They found her dead at 1:35 am. In those 25 minutes, did you pack your bags here and walk there? It’s incredible,’ he said.
“Something supernatural happened.”
Syeda said her daughter, who graduated from Macarthur Girls High School with an ATAR of 93 just weeks before her death, did not appear to be suicidal.
She had just been admitted to study IT at the University of New South Wales on a scholarship and, just hours before she died, she wrote down a list of activities she had planned for the coming week, including obtaining a tax return number. to be able to work, visit friends and acquire new hobbies.
Pictured is a to-do list that Samia wrote on Saturday, December 28. She was found dead hours later, at 1:35 am on Sunday, December 29.
Samia’s bedroom window is several meters off the ground, making it very difficult to get out without suffering major injuries.
When Samia left the house, she took some clothes but left her phone behind.
His name was found written on his arm when officers discovered his body.
Syeda said her daughter’s most recent diary is also missing from her room.
He said he will only be satisfied she acted of her own free will if CCTV shows her carrying her diary, but so far detectives have only shown him a grainy photograph taken near the station.
When contacted by Daily Mail Australia about Mr Syeda’s claims that officers had not carried out a thorough investigation, a NSW Police spokesperson said the matter was now before the coroner’s office.
“A report is being prepared for the coroner’s information and the coroner will determine the circumstances surrounding the death,” the spokesperson said.
Samia’s death shook the local Muslim community, and rumors circulated that she was tightly controlled and under a lot of pressure at home.
One of Samia’s friends commented online earlier this week that she was “not allowed to see her friends outside of school,” but Syeda vehemently denied those claims.
‘She went out with her friend for five hours on the day she disappeared. “She visited her friend’s house for six hours three days before she disappeared,” he said.
Syeda said Samia’s bedroom window was normally locked at night, however, the key remained permanently in the lock.
Syeda said her daughter’s window showed no signs of being tampered with when she was discovered missing.
Syeda said a stopper at the base of the front door remained intact and the door was still locked with the key kept under his pillow when he discovered Samia was missing.
Samia, a high-achieving student, had excelled in her HSC and was due to start studying IT this year
‘Of course, she needed to give the name of the person she was visiting and have me approve it (first).
“But she was free in a controlled way.”
Islamic undertaker Ahmad Hraichie, who arranged her funeral this week, said Samia had confided in a friend that she was feeling suicidal in the hours before her death, but then quickly backtracked and insisted she was fine.
“She told her friend, ‘Don’t worry, I’ll see you later,'” Hraichie told Daily Mail Australia.
“He said he would go to a psychologist on Tuesday.
“It didn’t arrive until Tuesday.”
Hraichie said it was heartbreaking to think a teenager could have felt so alone in Australia, where there are so many organizations that can provide social and psychological support.
He urged other people who are feeling depressed or dealing with mental health issues to use those groups and ask for help.
‘She was 18 years old. This should not have happened,’ he said.
“I keep reliving those moments, when she felt too bottomed out to do that.
“You lose one, we all lose.” Moving forward, let’s be proactive, not reactive.
‘If you need help, if you want a coffee, I’ll be happy to (be there) vent.’
The leader of Muslim community group Nafsun Mutma’innah said the teenager had been struggling with “loneliness”.
Samia’s belongings remained neatly packed in containers inside her room when the Daily Mail visited her on Wednesday.
High school textbooks and workbooks remained on his desk, along with a to-do list with his goals for the coming week.
“It appears the suicide was indicative of underlying personal issues and feelings of isolation,” he wrote online.
‘This loss highlights a growing concern about suicide and suicidal ideation, especially among our young people. Adolescence can be a time of intense emotional and social pressures, especially in the harmful age of social media, especially for girls.
‘If you notice friends or family, especially young people, showing signs of despair or talking about losing hope, don’t hesitate to reach out to them and offer them a space to talk to you or simply sit quietly with them, being present. with them.”
A longtime friend said she “never would have imagined” Samia would take her own life.
“My brothers and sisters, I beg you, if you know anyone who is struggling, regardless of proximity, ask them if they are okay,” he said.
‘You will never know what happens behind closed doors, people need a shoulder to lean on.
“A simple question can change someone’s life.”
For 24/7 confidential support, call Lifeline 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue 1300 22 4636