Dubai: A jobless Indian has committed suicide in a cemetery in Dubai, leaving the community stunned and shaken.
Social workers said Arun S.R, 32, may have spent a couple of nights at the old cemetery in Bur Dubai, opposite Dubai Creek, before hanging himself from a tree on April 24. His body was handed over to his family in Peroorkada of Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala on May 30.
Uma Padmanabhan, a Dubai-based social worker, told XPRESS a cleaner in the area noticed the body at the cemetery and informed the police. “The victim had nothing on him except his pyjamas, a pair of slippers and a wristwatch. We are told that a blanket and a pillow were also recovered from the site.”
She said the man had got a new passport on February 13 and had come to Dubai on a visit visa on March 3. “We recovered the passport from the Dubai Courts. His visa had expired and he had no accommodation, food or money with him.” It was not immediately clear why the passport was at Dubai Courts.
Padmanabhan said she helped complete the death formalities with the Indian Consulate after obtaining a notarised authorisation from his family. The Indian Community Welfare Committee (ICWC) gave her an air ticket to fly with the man’s body and hand it over to his family, she added.
Arun’s brother Krishna Kumar told XPRESS from Kerala that the victim was a computer diploma holder and was working with a Dubai bank three years ago but returned home in 2012 when he lost his job. He was looking for a new job when he ended his life.
Kumar said Arun was the eldest of three siblings and was earlier married to an air hostess with an Indian airline. “The couple is separated now. It’s just me, my sister and our mother in the family. Our father is not alive.”
Main breadwinner
Kumar, who works as an ‘office staff’ with a private firm, said his brother was the main breadwinner of the family.
“My sister is still studying and we are all in shock. We cannot believe he could do something like this. He was a good man with a good personality,” he said.
Padmanabhan said the last Arun spoke to his family was on April 14, the Hindu New Year Day, when he told his mother that he would return to Kerala only after he had found a job. But that was not to be.
“The family is not well off and the mother is appealing for any help she can get,” she added.
The news of Arun’s death has shocked the expat community in the UAE which is yet to come to terms with the fact that he chose a cemetery and end his life.
Social workers are flummoxed as to how the man entered the cemetery which is located next to the British Embassy. “He must have slipped in during the night, otherwise he would have easily been spotted,” said Padmanabhan.
C.P. Mathew, founder of the NGO Valley of Love, said: “It has been many years since the public cemetery shifted to Sonapur. Few know about this place, so it is surprising how he went there.”
extreme despair
From a ps ychologist’s point of view, any suicide in a cemetery is considered a reflection of an extreme sense of despair. Dr Rory McCarthy, Clinical Psychologist, said: “I would not like to comment on this case because I do not know the circumstances, but generally speaking, a man in a black hole can go to any extent. When the mood is dark and desperate, he is drawn to morbid places and situations. He believes he doesn’t deserve to be happy.
“A suicide in a cemetery could mean the person did not have any desire to be saved.”
Mathew said: “We come across many cases of depression and desperation. But suicide is not the answer.”
According to a 2011 Dubai Police report, over 70 per cent of the suicides were committed by Indians. In 2012, 72 Indians committed suicide in Dubai and the northern emirates.
The Indian Consulate did not respond to queries by XPRESS despite several reminders.
