Bangladeshi migrant worker dies by ‘suicide’ over family dispute in Dubai

He had to borrow money to run his business and send his brother to France

A Bangladeshi expatriate from Cumilla has died in Dubai, a city in the United Arab Emirates. Locals allege that the migrant worker ‘died by suicide’ due to financial stress and a family dispute.

The deceased was Mohammad Farooq Sarker, 35, a native of Barpara in Sakhipur village under Cumilla’s Daudkandi Model Thana. His father, Md Shahadat Hossain Sarker, is a Union Parishad member.

He died early on Thursday local time, confirmed the Consulate General of Bangladesh in Dubai.

Farooq’s friend Aktar Zaman Fahim, another Bangladeshi migrant worker in Dubai, said, “Farooq’s neighbours in a flat at Al Zarooni Building in Qusais heard him talking excitedly over the phone with his family when his roommates were at work. He ended his life by hanging himself in an empty room on the rooftop after the phone call.”

The deceased’s uncle Aktaruzzaman said, Farooq worked as a driver with the Dubai airport limousine service until 2018. He started a motor scrap business after he became jobless due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Amid a crisis in the business, he sent his younger brother to France with his own money. He had to borrow money for the business and his brother’s migration to France. He also tried moving to Europe recently in the wake of heavy losses in the business, but the effort was in vain, forcing him into mental stress.

Aktaruzzaman said Farooq had been living in Dubai for 16 years. He leaves behind his parents, two brothers and two sisters, a wife and two daughters in Bangladesh. He was the eldest of his siblings.

Qusais police have recovered Farooq’s body and kept it in a freezer. His mortal remains will be sent back to Bangladesh after the necessary formalities, the consulate in Dubai said.