Dubai: An Indian teacher was found dead after he allegedly committed suicide at his apartment here in the UAE, a media report said today.
Antony Benjamin, who hailed from Jaipur, was a qualified educationist with a Masters in English from Delhi University and Diploma in Phonetics from London.
A faculty member of an educational institute here, he was also engaged in social work as he used to teach visually and physically impaired children.
Benjamin was found dead in his apartment days after he stopped reporting for work, Khaleej Times reported.
Dubai police did not reveal how he committed suicide or the reasons behind it.
Prima facie, he committed suicide on December 14, according to police sources, the report said.
His social media profile says he was a poet and had compiled a book “Empowering Academic Writing” based on his personal classroom experience and observation of students from Asian, Arab, European and oriental ethnicity.
Benjamin is survived by a daughter who lives in India.
His friends and colleagues came to know about his death on Thursday, two days after he did not report to work.
“He was working normally in our institute until the last weekend and he had applied for leave for next Monday,” his office said.
“Sunday was a public holiday and we did not notice his absence from work until Thursday,” said an official from One Attempt, a Knowledge Village-based educational and training institute.
Vinay, a faculty member at One Attempt in Dubai, a franchisee of India’s Jamboree Education, said Benjamin had over 20 years of experience.
“Sunday (December 11) was a national holiday in the UAE. He had applied for leave for Monday, which was approved,” said the official of the educational institution.
“He did not report to work on Tuesday and Wednesday. He has been a faculty here for four years,” the colleague said, adding that they did not notice any signs of depression.
“We are proceeding with completing the formalities with Dubai Police before repatriating the body. Our senior officials are travelling and once they come back, we will have a condolence meeting,” said the institution representative.