Dubai: Shocked residents in the newly developed neighbourhood of Jumeirah Village — where an Indian woman and her son fell to their deaths on Tuesday morning — said the family kept themselves to themselves.
Bloodstains could still be seen on the pavement in front of the building where the victims fell.
Brigadier Omar Al Shamsi, Chief of Dubai Police’s Command and Control Centre, told Gulf News the incident at Manhattan Tower happened at around 11.30am.
“It is really painful, I don’t have the words to describe what I saw, particularly the child after falling from the 11th floor, it is something you would never want to see and would never wish that anyone would meet such a fate,” said a resident of a building on condition of anonymity.
Brigadier Al Shamsi added that the woman’s husband, who was at home when his wife and child fell from the balcony, is in police custody.
“CID are investigating the death of the mother and the child,” he said.
Brigadier Al Shamsi said that the mother is in her late 20s and that the family had been living in the building for almost a year.
“The mother did not leave behind any letter that may indicate that she committed suicide,” said Brigadier Al Shamsi.
He added that the police are not suspecting foul play in the death of the mother and her child.
“We cannot confirm any details about the death of the mother and her child until the investigation is complete. We cannot confirm yet if she killed herself and her baby or they just fell,” he added.
Brigadier Al Shamsi said some women who are the victims of domestic abuse commit suicide along with their children. A CID source told Gulf News that last year a Syrian woman who was subjected to domestic abuse committed suicide with her two daughters.
“Eleven months ago a Syrian mother who was subjected to domestic abuse by her husband drowned herself with her two daughters, aged three years and six months, in the sea in the Marina area,” police said.
He said she had left a letter saying that she was ending her life and her children’s lives because of the domestic abuse she suffered at the hands of her husband.
