Abu Dhabi: The doctor who was murdered at an Abu Dhabi hospital last week read the bible for half an hour before attending the clinic where he died.
According to colleagues of Dr Rajan Daniel, he was very religious, he never read the holy book during the brief intervals in his busy work schedule.
But the doctor read the bible for half an hour before leaving for an evening consultation during which he was killed, allegedly by his patient.
Dr Daniel returned home Thursday afternoon after attending a conference in Dubai and had tea with his wife before going for an evening consultation at Ahalia hospital in the capital.
“His wife told me she noticed that Dr Daniel started reading the bible during that short break,” said Dr P K Gopinath Menon, head of urology at Ahalia Hospital.
“She said it was unusual for him to do so during such a short break, but she did not disturb him,” he said.
Dr Daniel’s wife Geetha George is a homemaker and both are from the Southern Indian state of Kerala.
As Gulf News reported on Friday, Dr Daniel, 62, a consultant urologist at the hospital located along Hamdan Street, was found dead on Thursday evening in his consultation room, lying in a pool of blood with his throat slit.
A man was seen running away from the scene with a knife in his hand.
He was caught by hospital staff and later handed over to the police.
A police official said the suspect was a Pakistani national and he was being interrogated by a special police team to establish the motive behind the crime.
Dr Menon said Dr Daniel was very much committed to his regular patients so he did not attend the evening sessions at the Dubai conference on the fateful day.
He rushed from Dubai to attend to his patients.
“Had he stayed back at the conference, he would have escaped the tragedy but fate might have already decided otherwise,” Dr Menon said.
Dr Daniel had a very nice time last week with his only daughter and her two little kids who came here for a weeklong visit from India.
“He told me he enjoyed the time with his grandchildren but could not spend more time due to work commitments.”
The daughter and her family went back to India on Sunday but were expected to return yesterday evening after hearing of the tragedy, Menon said.
The daughter, Junu, is a postgraduate medical studies student and her husband is an assistant professor at a private medical college in Kerala.
“Dr Daniel was a gentleman to the core. He would never hurt anybody by words or deed.
“I am not exaggerating because I knew him since 1989 as we worked together in India,” Menon said.
Meanwhile a hospital spokesman reiterated that the management did not have any hint about the possible motive behind the alleged murder.
As Gulf News reported on Saturday, the suspect was visiting the hospital for the past three months, consulting with Dr Daniel.
