Indian expat brothers-in-law in Dubai die 35 days apart, family shattered

Dubai: A Keralite family is reeling from an unimaginable double tragedy after two brothers-in-law, both Indian expats in Dubai, died 35 days apart — one due to a heart attack in the UAE and the other in a freak drowning accident weeks after flying back home with the former’s body.

Mohammed Rashid, who worked in outdoor sales for a general trading firm in Dubai, suffered a heart attack on April 22 and died on April 25. Rashid is survived by his wife Mahnaz and three children aged 10, four, and three who are back home.

He passed away while resting on the lap of his younger brother, Moideen Kunhi, who recalled the untimely losses of his brother and brother-in-law as heartbreaking while speaking to Gulf News from the south Indian state

He [Rashid] was lying on my lap when he breathed his last,” said Moideen, who works in the indoor sales section of the same company where Rashid had worked.
He, along with his eldest brother, Abdul Salam, and their brother-in-law, Mohammed Sadiq, repatriated Rashid’s body to Kerala on April 27.

Tragically, just over a month later, Sadiq, who was married to Rashid’s sister Farshana, died on May 30 after drowning in a flooded paddy field near Farshana’s family home in Kasaragod district, which is facing waterlogging and flood-like situations in many low-lying areas following incessant rainfall in Kerala.

“We were going to my brother Abdul Salam’s house, which is just 100 metres away,” Moideen recalled.

“The road was slightly waterlogged. I was walking ahead, and Sadiq was right behind me. Suddenly he slipped into the flooded field and lost control. I jumped in to save him but couldn’t. I got exhausted and barely made it out holding onto a log. People from our neighbourhood pulled me out, but he couldn't be saved.”

Sadiq, 39, worked as a cashier at a restaurant in Dubai Spice Souk and lived in the same shared accommodation with Rashid, Moideen, and Salam. He is survived by his wife Farshana and three children aged 11, seven, and 14 months.

“My brother Rashid and I have been in Dubai for 15 years, and Sadiq joined us six years ago. We have been living together happily, eating and going out and celebrating everything together. They both died in front of me. It was fated for me to witness it. I don't know how I will carry on. It’s an inexplicable pain,” Moideen said, with a choked voice.

Moideen said Sadiq and he were due to return to Dubai on June 10 after completing the traditional 40-day mourning rituals for Rashid. “Now we are preparing for Sadiq’s rituals instead. I don’t know how to console my sister. She lost both her loving brother and her beloved husband in just over a month.”

The Kerala Muslim Cultural Centre (KMCC) in Dubai had supported the family in repatriating Rashid’s body. Sadiq's siblings living in the UAE have also flown home after his tragic death. Friends, relatives, and well-wishers have since rallied around the grieving family, who are still coming to terms with the double loss.