Missing for 3 days, Indian man with amnesia found in Dubai

An Indian man who was reported missing for the past three days has been found by family members, said his relatives.
An urgent appeal was launched to find 32-year-old Kerala-native Faisal Abdul Salam, who went missing on September 5. Hours after the family issued an appeal to Khaleej Times, Faisal was found near the supermarket where he works as a shop assistant.
Family members and social workers involved in the case were worried for Faisal's wellbeing as he suffers from amnesia, for which he takes medication.  
 
"He has been taking medicines for his memory loss issues for over a year. We found him near his supermarket... he was in a disheveled state and has no memory of what happened to him in the past three days," said Faisal's cousin Vajas Abdul Wahid.
"He is in a dazed state, and unable to recall what happened to him," said Vajas.
"Due to the pandemic, he ran out of his medicines which he usually gets from India. We had couriered the medicines and they were due to arrive in Dubai any time now," explained Wahid.  
 
When he does not take medications for his forgetfulness, Faisal suffers slight headaches.
 
"On the afternoon of September 5, he had a headache because he was not taking his medicines. His colleagues at the supermarket offered to take him to the hospital and they asked him to go back up to his room and get changed. Following which, no one knows where Faisal went, said Wahid.
 
Faisal, arrived in the UAE last year in search of a job from Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. After months of job hunting, he finally found the job in the supermarket a month ago and he just got his visa approved last week. He was due to do his medical next week and get his visa stamped in the passport. "He lives right next door to the supermarket. His brother also lives here in UAE. He works in Ras Al Khaimah," said Wahid.  
 
Faisal is married and has one child. "A few days ago, he had taken the company car to Sonapur to drop some colleagues but he left the car there and came walking back to Qusais. His memory issues make him really disoriented," explained Wahid.   
 
Social worker Naseer Vatanapally said, "Thanks to God, he has been found. A case was registered at the local police station."
 
dhanusha@khaleejtimes.com 

• UAE

Dhanusha Gokulan

dhanusha@khaleejtimes.com