Indian man who stabbed wife to death in Dubai was ‘drunk, but acted normal’, colleague recalls
Dubai: A colleague has recalled how an Indian woman in Dubai was brutally murdered by her husband in a parking lot outside their office in broad daylight last week. Mother of two girls, Vidhya Chandran, 40, was stabbed to death by her husband Ugesh C. on September 9.
Hailing from Kerala, Vidhya was supposed to fly home for Onam celebrations that night.
The accused was charged with premeditated murder and was referred to Dubai Public Prosecution.
However, Ugesh had behaved nicely minutes before committing the gruesome crime, Vidhya’s boss recalled while repatriating her body on Wednesday.
M. Subburaj, managing director of a technical company in Al Quoz, told Gulf News that Ugesh was drunk when he came to meet Vidhya at their office on September 9.
“That was the second time he came to meet her. The first time when he came, I was not in the office. Since I was there, he met me also that day. But later our drivers said he was seen roaming in the area in the past five-ten days.”
Drunk but normal
He said Ugesh was drunk when he spoke to him in Vidhya’s presence.
“He said he is starting some business here. He spoke to me nicely and I didn’t see him talking roughly to Vidhya either. If there was any sign of aggression in his behaviour I would have been careful.”
Subburaj said Ugesh left the office following which he also went out for some business meeting.
“She had joined our office 10 months back and I knew there were some issues between them. But nobody could imagine he had this plan in his mind. I wouldn’t have gone out if I had suspected something at that time.”
He said Ugesh might have hid himself outside their office compound for a while.
“There are CCTV cameras inside the compound and the office parking lot. He committed the crime in a sandy parking lot outside the office.”
It is suspected that Vidhya went out to meet Ugesh after he called her again on her phone.
“I didn’t know about that. I had to give a quotation to a client and I called Vidhya to check because she handles the quotations. Since she didn’t answer the phone, I called up the office and then they said she went out with her relative who had come to the office earlier.”
He said he then sent an office driver to look for Vidhya and ask her to get back to office for providing the quotation.
Pool of blood
It is the driver who saw her lying in a pool of blood first, said Subburaj. “It was a horrible scene. She had severe stab injuries in her stomach.”
Police and ambulance were called in immediately. However, it was too late.
A death certificate stated that Vidhya had died of hypovolaemic shock (severe loss of blood) from unspecified multiple injuries because of assault by a sharp object.
Subburaj, who was also questioned by Dubai Police, said he passed on a number, from which Ugesh had called him earlier, to the police, aiding in his arrest.
After confessing to the crime, the accused told the police that he had suspected his wife of cheating on him and took revenge.
He will be referred to the Dubai Criminal Court after the investigation is over.
Repatriation of body
Vijesh Pillai, a relative of Vidhya, said the members of the volunteering group ‘Change a Life, Save a Life,’ helped with the legal procedures for the repatriation of her body.
Scheduled to accompany her body on Wednesday night, Pillai said it was only after her death that he saw Vidhya.
“I was born and brought up in Mumbai and I came here on a visit to look for a job. I only knew that we were related. But I had never met her. It is tragic that I saw her for the first time after she died and now I am flying home with her lifeless body.”