HIS wife was expecting him to buy biryani for lunch after he had fetched their son from school.
TRAGIC: Investigators looking at the father's body. --TNP PICTURES: FRANCIS LEE
Instead, the unexpected happened. Her husband, 35, and their only child, 7, fell to their deaths from the 24th floor of Block 287 in Bukit Batok East Avenue 3 at 1.55pm yesterday.
Witnesses said the boy, Faheem Mohamed Farook, fell first, followed by his father, Mr Mohamed Farook Ali Akbar.
Pooja Punniyamoorthy, 11, was changing out of her school uniform when she saw a figure falling from the upper levels of her housing block.
Moments later, the Primary 5 pupil saw another figure plunging.
Speaking to The New Paper outside her third-floor flat, Pooja said: 'At first, I thought the figures were black plastic bags that were thrown down.
'But I heard loud thuds and when I came out of my flat, I saw two bodies on the concrete ground.'
Mrs Alice Ng, 54, a housewife who lives on the eighth floor of Block 271, which faces Block 287, said: 'I was doing my laundry when I saw policemen talking to the man. The cops appeared to be trying to calm the man down.
'I thought a TV station was filming a show so I returned to my chore. Seconds later, I heard a loud thud and I realised it was a real tragedy.'
Others thought it was an object being thrown down, until they heard loud thuds.
It is believed that Mr Mohd Farook threw his son down before taking his own life.
Family friend Bakar Ismail, 62, who runs a butcher shop in the neighbourhood, told The New Paper that Mr Mohd Farook had taken leave from work yesterday to see his son's form teacher.
Mr Bakar said he heard from the wife that the son's teacher tore his shirt to punish him for quarrelling with a classmate.
He said: 'Her husband wanted to settle the matter with the teacher before going for prayers in the mosque.'
The boy is said to be studying in a government primary school in the area.
The family came here from India in 2000 and became permanent residents, said Mr Bakar.
He added that the wife is a homemaker and Mr Mohd Farook worked in a hospital lab.
'He told his wife not to cook lunch. He would buy biryani after prayers in the mosque.'
No answer
But at 2.30pm, when Mr Mohd Farook did not answer his handphone, she began panicking, said Mr Bakar.
She went round the neighbourhood shops looking for her husband and son. When she saw their bodies at the foot of Block 287, she broke down, said Mr Bakar.
'The police were already there and the bodies were covered with white sheets.
'She wanted to have a closer look at the bodies but the police stopped her.'
Another resident, Mr Mohd Sham, 56, a security officer, said: 'The wife shouted the names of her husband and son as she walked towards the scene.'
A police car then drove her to a station where she spent the rest of the day giving her statement.
The New Paper understands that the dead man's younger brother, who also works in Singapore, gave a police statement yesterday.
At 5.30pm, undertakers arrived to take the bodies away. Mr Bakar said Mr Mohd Farook had told his wife last week that he would transfer all his properties in India to her.
Madam Saminah, 52, a retired teacher who lives on the fifth floor in Block 287, said she heard a woman crying but did not think something was amiss.
She said: 'My daughter heard a thud while she was bathing. She then made her way to the community library.
'After she went downstairs, she called me, saying two persons fell to their deaths.'
The family was known in the neighbourhood.
A barber who asked to be known as Sam said Mr Mohd Farook was a happy-go-lucky man.
Sam, 52, said: 'I last saw him two weeks ago when he asked me to cut his hair.'
A police spokesman told The New Paper that father and son were pronounced dead by paramedics at 2.15pm.
Due to the economical crisis, alot of ppl are facing a lot of stress..with loans to pay and housing expenses and water and electricity expenses, these drive ppl to the edge. As a member of a society and a muslim, we MUST extend help to PPL who are in need of our help. We all have to answer to ALLAH(SWT) one day for all the deeds that we do.
