Suicide on 30th birthday: Indian expat Athulya’s body to be repatriated from Sharjah to Kerala tonight

Sharjah: The mortal remains of an Indian expat woman in the UAE, who was found dead in Sharjah on her 30th birthday and the first day of her new job , are set to be flown to her hometown in the south Indian state of Kerala tonight.

The repatriation of Athulya Sekhar, a mother of a 10-year-old girl, follows the release of a forensic report on Monday confirming the cause of death as suicide by hanging.

Athulya was found dead in her apartment in the Rolla area of Sharjah early in the morning on July 19, the day she was to celebrate turning 30 and begin a new job at a mall in Sharjah.

Her body is scheduled to be repatriated to Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, on an Air Arabia flight departing at 10.20pm on Tuesday, according to representatives of the Indian Association Sharjah (IAS), who supported the family with legal procedures.

Her sister and brother-in-law, who reside in Sharjah, will also fly home tonight.

“Since they didn’t get tickets on the same flight, they are flying on another Air Arabia flight from Abu Dhabi to Thiruvananthapuram around the same time,” IAS president Nissar Thalangara told Gulf News.

He was speaking over the phone from the Embalming Centre of Sharjah Police, where IAS office-bearers and managing committee members joined the family to pay their last respects to Athulya after the embalming process was completed.

Muraleedharan E., a managing committee member of the IAS who supported the family with legal procedures, said the embalming was completed around 3.30pm, following which Athulya’s body was transported to Sharjah International Airport.

Athulya’s husband, Satheesh Sivasankara Pillai, who has been accused by her family of abusing her, was also present at the embalming centre.

Emotions ran high as Athulya’s only sister, Akhila, broke down in tears on seeing the body of Athulya. Tense moments followed when Satheesh handed over Athulya’s phone, laptop, and other belongings to her sister.

“Initially, he had refused to hand over Athulya's belongings to her sister. It was after the association intervened that he came forward to do it. Details of all her belongings handed over have been documented,” said Muraleedharan.

Satheesh was terminated from his job as a site engineer in a Dubai-based building contracting company after her parents filed a complaint against him in Kerala and the family released videos of him physically abusing and mentally harassing Athulya.

“We took the action based on the media reports about a case registered against him in Kerala and circumstantial evidence of his violent and abusive behaviour in videos that appeared online,” a senior HR manager of the company had told Gulf News.

As reported by Gulf News earlier, Athulya’s parents had filed a complaint against Satheesh accusing him of various charges.

According to The New Indian Express, he has been booked under multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). These include Section 85 (abetment of suicide of a woman), Section 115(2) (voluntarily causing grievous hurt using a dangerous weapon), Section 118(1) (wrongful restraint or confinement) Section 103(1) (cruelty by husband or his relatives).

He also faces charges under Section 3 and Section 4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act, which penalise both the giving/taking of dowry and its unlawful demand, the report said.

However, Satheesh had earlier told reporters from Malayalam media outlets in Sharjah that he had not been at home when the incident occurred. He also alleged that Athulya had been increasingly distant in recent months, adding that she had started sleeping separately and had even undergone an abortion back home in November last year without his consent. His claims were rebutted by Athulya’s family.

Athulya’s brother-in-law on Monday said the family would pursue the case against Satheesh back home. “Kerala police officials have been in touch with us. We will follow procedures to go ahead with their investigation after we reach home,” he added.

Around 10 days prior to Athulya's death, another woman from Kerala had ended her life by hanging herself after suffocating her 16-month-old daughter to death at their apartment in Al Nahda in Sharjah.

The family of the 32-year-old woman also had filed a complaint in Kerala, accusing her husband and his family members of long-standing domestic violence.

In the wake of these cases, IAS has announced a new platform aimed at resolving family disputes. The 'Family Dispute Redressal Session', scheduled to take place weekly on Saturdays at the IAS premises, will be launched on August 2, the association’s president Nissar Thalangara had told Gulf News.