Dubai: The family of a 26-year-old Indian is desperately seeking answers after he died under mysterious circumstances in Dubai early this month.
Shyam Kumar Nair, a six-footer whom his family claims was in perfect health, collapsed in his home in Deira on June 7, barely two weeks after he arrived from India to work in a bank. His flat-mates called an ambulance and he was rushed to Rashid Hospital, where he was declared dead on arrival “without any external marks or injuries”. A copy of the preliminary police report cites suspected food poisoning as the cause of the death.
But Shyam’s brother Sharath Kumar, who has arrived with their parents from Pune, told XPRESS: “We don’t have a confirmation yet as the blood test results are still awaited. It is over three weeks now and we are yet to get the death certificate. How could my brother have died so suddenly? He was very fit going by his routine medical check-ups. In fact, he had donated blood to a patient just a couple of days before he left India.
“His roommates told us that he complained about stomach pain earlier that morning and that he collapsed in the toilet later in the afternoon.”
When XPRESS contacted two of Shyam’s five flatmates they said they had given their statement to the police.
Shyam’s cousin Suresh Kumar said his parents are in a state of shock. “Shyam’s mother was hospitalised in Pune but somehow managed to come here. She is complaining of chest pain even as we run from pillar to post trying to get answers.”
Among the questions plaguing the family are why and how Shyam Kumar died. If food poisoning was indeed the cause, what was the source? What about others who had eaten the same food or from the same place?
Sharath said: “The police are very kind and we understand that investigations are under way. But how long will it take? When will we get the death certificate so that we can take Shyam’s body home?”
The Indian Consulate told XPRESS: “The associates of the deceased are in touch with us. However they have been able to supply us with only a document from the Public Prosecutor’s Office. The Consulate offers 24x7 services for all death-related matters which include registration of death at the consulate, attestation of related documents and cancelling the passport of the deceased so that mortal remains can be transported. For that we need the all-important death certificate issued by the local authorities. Mortuary, embalming and cargo certificates are not relevant for this consulate to register a death.”
It said: “The death certificate is issued by local authorities after they are fully convinced and have carried out investigations into the cause of death. This procedure cannot be influenced or hastened by the consulate.”
