Tributes paid to couple killed in Dubai villa as daughters take parents' bodies home to India

Friends say Hiren, 48, and Vidhi Adhiya, 40, were a perfect match

Hiren and Vidhi Adhiya were killed when a intruder broke into their Dubai villa. Their two daughters, 13 and 18, survived. Courtesy Adhiya family

Family and friends have paid tribute to a couple killed by an intruder at their home in Dubai.

Hiren, 48, and Vidhi Adhiya, 40, were described as perfectly matched and quiet, according to friends in India who knew them for decades before the couple moved to the UAE a few years ago.

Their teenage daughters will leave Dubai this week, along with the bodies of their parents, which will be flown to Ahmedabad in Gujarat and then to their hometown, Jamnagar.

The couple were attacked by an intruder on Thursday night in their villa in the Arabian Ranches, police said.

We chatted on Monday and he said he wanted to get the family back for the Christmas vacation, so they could get their minds off the Covid situation. It is unbearable

Their children, aged 13 and 18, were home at the time. The elder girl was stabbed in the neck but has since been discharged from hospital.

Jaimin Patel, a family friend, said that just last week he discussed a December vacation in India with Mr Adhiya.

"I treated him as if he was my big brother. He was a guardian, a guiding light for all of us," Mr Patel told The National from Vadodara city in western India, where Mr Adhiya once worked.

The families often travelled on holidays together since their daughters are the same age.

“We chatted for about 45 minutes on Monday and he said he wanted to get the family back for the Christmas vacation, so they could get their minds off the Covid situation," Mr Patel said.

"Our wives and children had also just spoken to each other. Everybody is in shock, we cannot believe this has happened. It is unbearable.”

Mr Patel described his friend as a workaholic who came to Dubai with big dreams for his daughters.

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  Hiren and Vidhi Adhiya were killed when a intruder broke into their Dubai villa. Their two daughters, 13 and 18, survived. Courtesy: Adhiya family

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  Police previously released this image of the man, who was convicted of the couple's murder in April. Photo: Dubai Police

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  The couple were found dead at a villa in the Mirador district of Arabian Ranches, a community on the outskirts of Dubai. Pawan Singh / The National

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  Neighbours in the upscale community said they often leave their doors and garages unlocked. Pawan Singh / The National

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  The Ranches area also saw a spate of burglaries late last year, residents said. Pawan Singh / The National

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  Police said the suspect climbed over an external wall to avoid security guards. Pawan Singh / The National

Mr Adhiya was a senior director with an oil and gas company in Sharjah.

“He was always multi-tasking, a workaholic. He loved work,” Mr Patel said.

“He left India to secure the future of his daughters. That was the aim with which he travelled to the UAE. My one hope is that his daughters are able to complete his wish and will have a bright future.”

Prayer services will be held in Jamnagar when the bodies are repatriated.

“We have been praying for them in our hearts,” Mr Patel said.

“The rituals will take place after the bodies arrive. It has been very difficult for their family.”

The Indian consulate in Dubai said arrangements were being made to send the daughters to India.

“The children will leave this week and we are working to get approvals to send the mortal remains as early as possible,” a consular official said.

Nitesh Gorasia who handled information technology for Mr Adhiya’s company in India remembered a good-natured mentor.

“It is next to impossible for anyone to have had any problems with Hiren bhai [brother],” he said.

"He was a man who could adjust to any situation. His nature was the same whether there was a crisis or big success in the company. It is a huge loss. It is very difficult to find a person like him in this world.”

Police arrested a suspect, a Pakistani who was part of a maintenance team that worked on the villa two years ago.

Officers said the suspect, now unemployed, entered through an unlocked patio door, found Dh2,000 in a wallet on the ground floor and then went upstairs in search of jewellery.

He stabbed Mr Adhiya and his wife when they woke up and then attacked the elder daughter.

The children are being looked after by friends in Dubai.

Police tracked the man in another emirate by tracing fingerprints on a knife they found near the villa.