Kerala Woman and Five-Year-Old Daughter Dead in Sharjah in Suspected Murder-Suicide
A 35-year-old woman from Kannur and her young daughter were found dead in Sharjah. Police are treating the case as a murder-suicide, onmanorama.com reports.
Sharjah Deaths of Kerala Mother and Child Reclassified as Murder-Suicide
Onmanorama.com reports that the deaths of Arsha (35), a woman from Kannur, Kerala, and her five-year-old daughter Ruhiya in Sharjah are now being treated as a murder-suicide by police — a significant departure from what the family was initially told.
Relatives and neighbours in Kannur had first been informed that the two died in a road accident near their car in Sharjah. That account has since been contradicted by information received by the family.
Azhikode grama panchayat member Jyothi P, who has been in contact with the family, said they have now been told that Arsha allegedly threw her daughter from the balcony of their apartment before jumping herself. The incident occurred at approximately 7.15 am on Wednesday at the family's flat near Sahara Mall in Al Nahda, Sharjah.
"The family has now been informed that the incident happened at the apartment building where they were staying for the past seven years," Jyothi said.
According to a Gulf News report cited by onmanorama.com, eyewitnesses and building staff told police that Arsha threw the child from the balcony before jumping. The family lived on the 15th floor, but accounting for parking levels and a gym, the fall was equivalent to 22 storeys above ground. Ruhiya's body was recovered from the road; Arsha's from the pavement.
Police had visited the apartment a day before the incident following a reported family dispute. The building's security guard told police that Arsha's husband, Nihal, had mentioned she had been suffering from mental health issues. Nihal, who worked in Dubai as an aircraft resource allocation officer, has since been taken in for questioning. Arsha had been running an online business from Sharjah.
Jyothi noted the couple had been married for 12 years and came from different castes. Arsha was the daughter of T K Purushothaman and Geetha of Puthiyaparamba, near Puthiyakavu Bhagavathi Temple in Mololam ward, Azhikode grama panchayat, Kannur. Purushothaman had worked as a government official in the UAE before retiring and returning to India five years ago. Arsha's sister Ashitha lives in an adjacent flat in the same Al Nahda building.
Following news of the deaths, Arsha's parents travelled to Sharjah. Jyothi said Geetha had been expected back by Sunday, but the family has remained in Sharjah as police have not yet released the bodies.