Dubai: The five-year-old girl, who was found dead in her apartment on Saturday — along with her father who committed suicide and injured mother — was smothered with a pillow, Dubai Police disclosed yesterday.
Forensic investigations have established that the girl was smothered with a pillow and the father had hanged himself, Brigadier Khalil Ebrahim Al Mansouri, Director of Dubai Police's Criminal Investigation Department, told Gulf News. The mother was found with slash wounds on her neck and wrist and is still hospitalised.
The Indian family of three — Rijesh, 32, his wife Sreesha, 30, and daughter Avantika — was living in a building behind Al Musalla Tower in Bur Dubai. The middle-income family is from Chakkarakkal in Kannur district in the south Indian state of Kerala.
The father left two letters — one to his family, and the other to police. He explained the reasons behind his decision to kill himself and his family, police said.
Murder charges
The letter to police said he was having financial problems, and was also facing problems with his former boss, who is also an Indian. He did not explain the nature of these problems, Brig Al Mansouri said.
If proven that the mother had taken part in suffocating her daughter, she would face charges of murder as well as attempted suicide, he said, adding that the case has been referred to the Public Prosecution.
Everything seemed fine, said the victim's brother. "There was no sign of distress and everything seemed fine," Rijesh's brother Ribesh told Gulf News, adding that the family is still in shock.
Suicide notes
Ribesh said the suicide notes have left some clues. "Rijesh mentioned in his suicide note that his former boss was creating problems for him," he said.
"He wrote that the former boss came to his house and threatened him, accusing him of cheating... Rijesh denied cheating anyone and wrote that he is ending his life," Ribesh said.
In his note to their parents, Rijesh mentioned that he still wanted to live but that the circumstances had become difficult, Ribesh said.
When contacted, the former boss, P.N., said that he had met Rijesh on Friday night but denied having anything to do with his suicide. "The news came as a shock to me. He called me on Friday around 9.45pm and asked me to meet him to collect a cheque for Dh15,000 which he owed me," P.N. said. "He gave me the cheque, that's all. There were no big issues," he said.
P.N. travelled to Delhi on Saturday early in the morning and returned the same night.
Avantika remembered
Avantika Rijesh was a ‘brilliant' little girl, often helping others at her table to do their work, according to her teacher Zara Haider at Kindergarten Starters (KGS). She was a kindergarten (KG2) student at the school.
"It was with great sadness that we received the tragic news of her passing away." She was a cheerful student and was regular in school.
She would frequently be given stars for her excellent work which she "would show her papa", according to her teacher.
She will be missed by all her friends, teachers and the management at KGS, the school said.
Her father Rijesh had been in the UAE for the past 13 years. He got married about six years back and was working as an accountant with an interior design company before moving to Panasonic about three months ago. His parents and two sisters live in India.
His wife is employed with Al Reyami Group. "Rijesh was a reserved person who spoke little, but the family seemed happy," a family friend said.
Number of suicides
Some 73 Indians committed suicide last year in Dubai and the northern emirates, the Indian Consulate said yesterday. Officials said that the number of suicides among the community has come down drastically over the years. The number hit a peak in 2008, with 147 cases of suicides reported. It dropped to 113 in 2009 and 110 in 2010.
