Adeel can’t even go to the bathroom alone, father says

Dubai: Adeel Afzal, who was found at Bani Yas Square a week after going missing in Al Mamzar, can barely walk, his father said.

Afzal Haq said his son, diagnosed as a schizophrenic, has lost 8kg. “It is a miracle that he survived all those days alone,” he added.

Afzal requires help even to go to the washroom.

What happened to Afzal is still a mystery. “He gets irritated every time his mother and sister ask him if he got into someone’s vehicle,” Haq said.

If Afzal had walked, he could have taken Al Khaleej Road or Al Rashid Road. Either way, he would have to walk about 10km through various districts of Dubai such as Al Waheda, Abu Hail, Hor Al Anz and finally, to the busy downtown area of Naif and Bani Yas Square Park. Nobody knows where he slept.

Haq feels he made a mistake by not approaching Gulf News earlier. He was under the impression that placing a missing report in the paper required police approval.

The day the report appeared in Gulf News, readers called the newspaper office saying they had found him. Afzal was found a few metres away from the police headquarters.

Julie Palad, the woman who recognised him from his picture in the newspaper, said she was hesitant to approach Afzal at first. “I asked him if he needed anything, and he said, ‘pani’.” The Filipina expatriate knew the Hindi word meant ‘water’ and got him two bottles from a grocery. “He was shivering [from sitting on an open bench in the rain],” she said.

Haq said he was grateful to those who helped him (another expatriate bought Afzal a hamburger and fries).

He appealed to residents to help rehabilitate his son given the high fees at special needs institutions. “We need help to get him rehabilitated. He can never be left alone,” Haq said.