Brenda Kwesikazi Mohammed (27), mother of Liyah (2), was found dead on 6 January at the Eglinton Hotel in Galway - a direct provision hostel.

Her husband Bashiru Mohammed Dauda (30) says he begged the Reception and Integration Agency (RIA) to move the family to self-catering accommodation so they could prepare food that his wife would eat. Brenda had been diagnosed as suffering from post-natal depression and was attending psychiatric services in Galway.

"She was unable to eat the food in the hostel. If she did eat, she vomited immediately. In direct provision, you only get Euro19 per person to live on, so we couldn't afford to eat out. But if we did eat out, she always ate. I used to bring her to McDonalds and friends' homes so that she would eat, " said Bashiru.

"The RIA are responsible for her death. If they had given her a place where we could cook, she would be alive today. She died of malnutrition, " he claimed.

Bashiru found his wife in their hotel room when he returned from a trip to Dublin on 6 January.

"The door of the room was locked. I banged on it for 10 minutes. Eventually Liyah opened the door. The child was naked and the room was in a mess, Brenda lay on the bed. It took a few minutes before I realised she was dead, " he said.

Bashiru says he has never received any written acknowledgement of the 18 letters he has sent the RIA.

A letter from Brenda's social worker to the RIA dated 20 December says that "an alternative residence would be much more conducive to her [Brenda's] mental health. . . As you are aware she does not have cooking facilities and residents are not allowed to have food in their rooms. This pattern has become a vicious circle, ie, hospitalisation treatment, weight gain, discharge and then isolation, depression and weight loss culminating in further admissions."

The letter states that her needs would be better served in a situation where she had cooking facilities.

Her doctor, Dr Saber Elsafty, said the cause of death will not be known until the post-mortem results are out. He said it was definitely "not suicide" and Brenda's "not eating could be an element in her death".

Brenda was pregnant when she arrived in Ireland in September 2004 seeking asylum. She gave birth to the couple's daughter in Ireland in January 2005. Her husband says she pretended to be Zimbabwean to better her chances of asylum and adopted the name Nomvunar Khanyile.

In a statement to the Sunday Tribune the Reception and Integration Agency confirmed the death of Nomvunar Khanyile but pointed out that the cause of death is as yet unknown.