DUBAI // A 20-year-old plumber tried to end his life a month after arriving in Dubai because he forgot to bring a pendant with scriptures from the Quran that he said protected him and prevented him from harming himself.
Pakistani S Z was found hanging from the ceiling by a rope in the toilet of his accommodation.
His roommates were suspicious about how long he was spending in the toilet and broke down the door before calling an ambulance.
When questioned about the incident, the plumber said he had tried to kill himself in his home country once before.
“I suffer from something in my brain that pushes me to attempt to kill myself,” he said. “I had a pendant which has some Quranic verses that prevents me from killing myself, but I forgot it when I came to Dubai.”
He said that he went to the bathroom to wash his clothes but a sudden desire to end his life took over him.
“I don’t have problems with my family in Pakistan, I am possessed by a djinn,” he told prosecutors. “I did not mean to end my life, I was not even aware of what I was doing.”
His compatriot, M H, 25, said his roommate and friend went to the toilet at 7pm on September 21.
“He stayed long so I started to get worried,” he said. “I waited then my other roommate also started to get worried, so I went and knocked on the bathroom door but S Z did not answer.”
M H and another man knocked down the bathroom door to find S Z hanging from a water pipe on the ceiling.
“He was unconscious when we found him. My other room-mate, M M, brought a knife and cut the rope, then we brought S Z down,” said M H.
An ambulance was called and, when it arrived, police were also there to escort him to Rashid Hospital.
“I don’t know why he did that but he had told me previously that there are some problems he suffered from back home,” said M H.
The plumber was convicted of an attempted suicide and sentenced to one month in jail, followed by deportation.
salamir@thenational.ae
