An Indian expatriate, Shanifa Babu, tragically fell to her death from the balcony of her 19th-floor apartment in Fujairah on Saturday morning. The incident, reported by Khaleej Times, occurred around 9 am while her husband, mother, and two daughters were present in the apartment.
Shanifa, a social media influencer with over 90,000 followers on Instagram and TikTok, was known for her engaging and humorous content. Her final post on TikTok, made on Thursday, poignantly read: “Don’t fall in love with me, I will break your heart.”
A family friend, preferring anonymity, expressed shock and confusion over the incident. “We have no idea what happened. Shanifa grew up in the UAE and her entire extended family lives here. On Saturday, her mother had traveled from Dubai to meet her in Fujairah,” the friend said.
Following the incident, Shanifa’s mother and husband spent the early hours of Sunday at the police station completing formalities. Her body is currently held in the mortuary of Fujairah Hospital.
Messages of condolences have flooded social media, reflecting the widespread shock and grief. “I cannot believe you are no longer on this earth Shanu,” wrote one user. Another shared: “You were someone I became friends with on social media without ever meeting in real life, rest in peace.”
Shanifa’s husband, Sanuj Babu, an entrepreneur with a construction firm in Fujairah, also expressed his sorrow on Instagram, asking for prayers for his late wife.
Social workers are now assisting the family with formalities and paperwork. It remains uncertain whether Shanifa will be buried in the UAE or her native Kerala in southern India.
This tragic incident follows similar cases in the UAE, including the death of an Ajman teen who fell from a residential building earlier this year and a 4-year-old who died in March after falling from a high-rise in Sharjah.
