Woman and daughter, 3, drown in Arabian Gulf 'murder-suicide'

RAS AL KHAIMAH // A 23-year-old Asian woman drowned herself and her three-year-old daughter in the Arabian Gulf last night.

According to her husband, the woman had a history of psychological problems and had tried to kill herself on several occasions in the past, both in her home country and in the UAE.

The husband told police that his wife had called him at work at about noon yesterday and told him she was going to commit suicide. He rushed home to look for her and their daughter but could not find them.

The husband began searching and spotted his wife and daughter walking towards deep waters. He managed to talk his wife round and brought them back home before he returned to work.

The husband suspected that she might try to kill herself again so went back home to find that his family was not there.

He began searching again with the help of neighbours and security officers until one of the security officers made the grim discovery of the wife and daughter's bodies washed up on the beach.

The director general of police operations in RAK, Brigadier General Abdullah Khamis Al Hadidi, said a report was received from a building security officer about the two washed-up bodies.

A police forensics team reported that there were no suspicious circumstances and that the cause of death for both the mother and daughter was "suicide drowning".

The husband is now receiving counselling.