The evening was different to most. Gasim Shahid and his wife Razeena Ibrahim were rushing to have everything in order for the start of the new academic year the following day. The couple had a girl starting year one and a son in grade 10. They were urging their eldest son who recently joined flag career Maldivian and their other two kids to go to bed early.
That was the last time the three children would see their beloved parents alive. Gasim, 50 and Razeena, a decade his junior were both from Thaa Atoll Vilufushi island. Their untimely death was as shocking as it was bemusing to the children. The couple were alive and seemingly well when they headed to bed around 10pm on Saturday.
Details surrounding their death remains a mystery as police have continued to be tight-lipped since the couple's lifeless bodies were discovered just past noon on Sunday.
The distraught family remains dumbstruck and in utter shock. The few who were willing to talk had only one thing to say about the couple.
"They were good people."
"The couple were really focused on their kids discipline. They never even fought. Even last night they sent the kids to bed early. After that it's unclear when they when to bed. The children are still in disbelief after learning the news of the death of their parents," a family member struggling to string a few sentences together told Avas at the state run Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) earlier Sunday.
A local journalist who is a family friend of Gasim said the couple were known to be healthy and were leading a happy life with their three children. Gasim was the speedboat driver of business tycoon MU Manik and had spent most of his life in Kurumba island resort.
"They were good and well respected people. They were really leading a good and happy life. This is so sudden and shocking."
The small family was sharing the fifth floor apartment of Light Signal house in Maafannu ward with a relative of Razeena. As most parents on Saturday night, both Gasim and Razeena were trying to be ready for school the next day. But bemusement quickly turned to concern after the couple failed to emerge from their bedroom past mid morning.
"They didn't come out in time to send the kids to school. But as the bedroom door was locked the children were afraid to disturb them too much. But when they didn't respond past 11am, the children used a spare key to unlock the door," another grief stricken family member told Avas.
The family member said the couple were holding onto each other. Much like a final embrace.
"The children called other family members before they finally decided to open the door. They were locked in a sort of an embrace. At first it did not seem like anything was wrong. But when they didn't respond we knew they had left us."
According to the relative, there were no signs of injury on either of the bodies to even suspect foul play. Police have launched an extensive investigation and have expressed desire to conduct a postmortem. But none of that makes any sense to the devastated family, grappling with a tragedy that has left them scarred for life.
