UAE probes death of Pinay who jumped off building allegedly to escape cops

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Authorities are investigating the death of a Filipina who jumped from the sixth floor of a building reportedly to escape police before dawn on Sunday, October 25, in Sharjah, a neighboring emirate north of Dubai.

Consul General Paul Raymund Cortes, head of the Philippine mission that has jurisdiction on the place of incident, said they have been in contact with the victim’s next of kin and taking the necessary steps to repatriate her remains.

“We have reached out to the family. We will work on the shipment of remains pending investigation by appropriate UAE authorities po,” Cortes told GMA News Online.

According to various local media reports, the Filipina, 40, fell to her death from the balcony of a building in Al Majaz, a cosmopolitan waterfront area in Sharjah.

The National reported that Sharjah Police was notified of the incident at 3 a.m. on Sunday and that an ambulance was sent to the scene where paramedics found the woman already dead.

Al Ittihad, an Arabic-language sister newspaper of The National, meanwhile reported that the prosecutor has ordered the body to be sent to the crime laboratory to determine the cause of death, while the case had been referred to Al Buhaira Police Station for investigation.

Gulf News meantime reported that the Filipina was in an apartment at the building with an Arab man, and that both were occupying it allegedly without the owner’s knowledge.

After being informed by the building’s watchman, the owner checked out the apartment and reportedly saw the two having shisha. The owner called the police who arrived soon.

At this point, the woman, seeing the police, jumped off the building, according to media reports, which also quoted authorities as saying she “tried to escape.”

The Arab man was in police custody as of press time, undergoing interrogation. —KBK, GMA News