Diana Dafter: Fundraising page set up to repatriate body of Malawian mum-of-two found dead in Northampton home

A fundraising page has been set up to repatriate the body of a “caring” and “always smiling” Malawian mother-of-two who was found dead at her home in Northampton.

The body of 36-year-old Malawi woman, Diana Dafter, was discovered at the family home in Lawrence Court, Lower Mounts, shortly after midday on Friday, October 7.

Diana's husband, Phillip Dafter, 32, appeared before Northampton Magistrates’ Court on Saturday (October 15) charged with the murder of his wife.

Julian Sheriff, of The Malawi Association UK Northampton Ladies, has set up a GoFundMe page to raise £11,000 to get Diana's body back home and help her children.

Julian said: "We would like to take her body home (Malawi) where her mother wants her to rest. This will help the family to find closure following this tragic loss.

"Right now people are already gathering at Diana's home in Malawi to comfort the mother.

"We are really, really grateful to everyone who has donated and are helping out, every penny is helping us to get our sister back home."

So far, at the time of writing (Monday, October 17), the GoFundMe has raised £3,748 from 151 donors.

Reacting to Diana's death, Julian said she is “shocked”.

"I was really sad. I couldn't believe it. It was totally unexpected. It's shocking. I was with her on Tuesday at work," she said.

Julian said Diana, a devout Christian, was a student nurse who was “always smiling”.

"She was always smiling all the time. She was a lovely person who got on well with everybody around her. She was also a caring person," said Julian.

"She was a student nurse at the University of Northampton and working as a carer at St Andrew's Hospital.

"She was a hard-working lady. She wanted to change her life. She was young, looking forward to the future and was very excited with her career."

According to Julian, Diana's children, aged six and 11, are now being looked after by their uncle and his wife.

"We are all helping each other. Right now the children are unaware of what happened to their mother. They are getting help," Julian said.

Diana and Phillip, also from Malawi, had been together for around 13 years, according to Julian.

Click here to donate to the GoFundMe.