The Administrator of the Palms Home for the elderly, Mohamed Fazloor Yasin, yesterday shot himself in the head at his house after lapsing into a state of depression over an illness he has been struggling with for the past 25 years.
Yasin, a 59-year-old licensed firearm holder was yesterday discovered dead in the study of his Lot A 34 East La Penitence home with a gunshot wound to the right temple by his wife. According to reports he was still holding his Taurus revolver. In a suicide note which was found near his body, the father of three said that he was fed up with his illness and begged his relatives to forgive him for the decision he made (to kill himself).
A resident of the area told this newspaper yesterday that she heard a loud sound around 1 pm but ignored it. She was however alerted to the incident around 4:30 pm when the wife was heard screaming.
Speaking to the media, the man’s son-in-law, attorney-at-law Anil Nandlall said that Yasin was very depressed and had said on several occasions that he would kill himself.
He explained that the man had a recurring bladder problem which he has been suffering from for the past 25 years. He said that he had multiple operations to correct it and had even travelled to England but the condition did not improve.
Recently he underwent two surgeries at a city hospital but again his condition did not improve.
According to Nandlall because he was not getting any relief, he went into a state of depression and saw a therapist on at least one occasion. However the depression continued.
Recounting the events leading to yesterday’s discovery, he said the man failed to pick up his wife and son. The wife, Andrea Yasin, contacted her daughter (Nandlall’s wife) saying that she was not getting him on the phone. The woman advised her mother to catch a taxi, since she had spoken to her father a short while before and he was at home.
He said that when the two arrived home, they made the gruesome discovery.
Yasin was a writer, who had received a number of awards for his work, a former sales manager at the Lotto company and was also employed at the Foreign Affairs Ministry for a number of years. A discrimination case he had brought against the lotto company was recently thrown out by the courts.
Many relatives and friends gathered outside the home shortly after the discovery as the police conducted their investigations.
