Sharjah: An elderly Indian man on Tuesday said that his mentally unstable wife, a Sri Lankan, has been missing from their Sharjah home since Sunday morning.
M.P. Madhusoothanan, 63, told Gulf News his wife Rohini Perera, 58, was under treatment for mental illness after the family’s nearly 30-year-old illegal status was reported in a section of the media during the visa amnesty in the UAE last year.
“We had allowed our story to be published because we wanted help to legalise our status. We did get a lot of help too. But, the flip side of it was that my wife could not handle the exposure and the flood of people coming home.”
The couple’s three daughters, among the five children in their twenties, have received jobs in a printing press while the only son has been hired by a resort.
However, both the parents’ temporary visas for jobseekers have expired and the eldest daughter’s will expire within the next fortnight.
Madhusoothanan said Rohini felt guilty that she was the reason for the family’s plight and she was a burden for them.
“She stopped eating solid food. She was getting violent if we tried to feed her anything solid. She was concerned about the monthly expenses for her medicines also, which used to come around Dh1,000-Dh1,500.”
When she showed the tendencies to leave the house, he said the family started locking up the doors of the villa they live in and keeping the keys away at night. “But on Sunday early morning, she opened the window and escaped through that. When we woke up, we saw the window and the gate open.”
Search on
Madhusoothanan said the family had made frantic search for her in many areas in Sharjah and Ajman and his son Mithun lodged a missing person’s complaint with Sharjah Police.
Sharjah Police confirmed to Gulf News on Tuesday that they had received the missing report about the woman and started the investigation.
The police has circulated the report to police stations across the country as well as the exit points and borders. A search is ongoing to locate the woman.
Anyone with information on the woman can call Wasit Police Station on 06 507 9555, the police said.
According to the husband, the fair and short-statured woman was wearing a maroon and purple salwar kameez and had left home barefoot.
“She doesn’t know any places or people to go to. I am very much worried about her as even the police officials have not received any information about her. I am appealing to everyone to help us find her,” he said.
The family has also reported the matter to the Sri Lankan Consulate, which has been assisting them with provisions frequently.
“We had issued a passport to her. Sri Lankan community members used to give her counselling also. It is very unfortunate that she is missing,” said a consulate official.
