Dubai: The 38-year-old Indian man who jumped to his death from a high-rise building in Jumeirah Lakes Towers (JLT) on Sunday afternoon has been identified as Llewelyn Couto, a high-ranking business executive who had held senior positions in various companies in Dubai and was last employed with Splash, a Landmark Group company.
Llewelyn, fondly known as Lulu, left behind six-months pregnant wife, Poornima, and a one-and half-year-old son, Vivaan, when he took the fatal leap from the 40th floor of Icon building in JLT. He owned an apartment on the 13th floor of the building.
A family source denied Couto was under financial stress or had a family dispute. "He was being treated for depression, he was taking medication for the last six days," the source said.
CCTV cameras captured Couto's final moments, revealing a seriously distraught man, a building staff who saw the footage told XPRESS.
Nervous behaviour
The footage reviewed by authorities and building staff showed him pacing about inside the lift nervously. "He was literally tracked by the cameras from the underground parking to the top floor. He seemed really disturbed. He was seen pacing about inside the lift, sometimes holding his head with his hand," the building staff said.
The footage showed Couto, dressed in a white long-sleeved shirt and black trousers, park his vehicle at the basement and enter the lift. He did not press the "13" button on the lift where he lived but instead went straight to the 40th floor.
Camera footage from the top floor showed him entering a play area and then heading towards the pool side. It's here that he found an access to the ledge and jumped.
Couto's death has come as a huge shock to his colleagues and friends.
"He was the funniest guy I knew and always smiling and laughing ... really fun .. we are all in shock coz Lulu the guy we knew would not do that..," wrote a friend on Facebook.
"It's hard to believe he's gone. I have lost a friend," said an official at Stargate in Zabeel Park, where Couto worked as a marketing manager until February last year.
