Kerala woman, daughter found dead in Sharjah; police say murder-suicide

Kannur: The death of a Kannur woman and her five-year-old daughter in Sharjah is being treated as a murder-suicide by police, the family back home has now learned.

Earlier, relatives and neighbours in Kannur were told that Arsha (35) and her daughter Ruhiya were killed in a road accident while crossing a road in Sharjah. Initial information received by the family was that they had been knocked down by a vehicle after stepping out of their car.

However, Azhikode grama panchayat member Jyothi P, who had earlier spoken to the family, said they have now received information that the woman allegedly threw the child from the high-rise building before jumping herself. The incident happened at the family’s apartment near Sahara Mall in Al Nahda, Sharjah, around 7.15 am on Wednesday.

“The family has now been informed that the incident happened at the apartment building where they were staying for the past seven years,” said Jyothi.

Arsha was married to Nihal, who worked in Dubai as an aircraft resource allocation officer. Arsha was running an online business.

According to a report by Gulf News, police have registered the case as suicide.
The report said eyewitnesses and building staff stated that the woman allegedly threw the child from the balcony of their apartment before jumping. The family reportedly lived on the 15th floor of the residential tower, but taking the parking levels and gym into consideration, they fell from 22 levels above ground. The child’s body was found on the road, and the woman’s on the pavement.

The report further said police had visited the apartment building a day earlier following a family dispute. It also quoted the building’s security guard as saying that the husband, Nihal, had told him his wife had been suffering from mental health issues.

Jyothi said the couple had been married for 12 years and belonged to different castes. Nihal has been taken in for questioning by the police.

Arsha was the daughter of T K Purushothaman and Geetha of Puthiyaparamba near Puthiyakavu Bhagavathi Temple in Mololam ward of Azhikode grama panchayat in Kannur. The family had been living in Sharjah for years. Purushothaman was a government official in the UAE and returned after retirement only five years ago. Arsha’s sister Ashitha also lives in a neighbouring flat in the same building in Al Nahda.

Following the news of the deaths, Arsha’s parents had travelled to Sharjah. Jyothi said Geetha was expected to return on Sunday, but the family has remained there as the police have not yet released the bodies.