Troubled Lebanese singer murdered in Dubai
Pop star had been in hiding for several months
A troubled Lebanese singer said to be hiding out in Dubai was found stabbed to death at her apartment, press reports said on Tuesday.
Suzan Tamim, 31, shot to fame when she won the Lebanese talent show Studio Al-Fan (Art Studio) in 1996, and enjoyed many hit singles early in her career.
Her mutilated body was found in her upscale apartment at the Jumeirah Beach Residence towers in Dubai Marina late Monday night, Arabic-language celebrity news site Elaph reported, adding that she had been stabbed several times.
The police had been contacted by concerned friends and family.
Tamim moved to Dubai from Cairo eight months ago to escape her husband and manager Adel Matouk, according to Elaph.
The couple met in Paris and were married around six years ago, the second marriage for the talented young singer, according to Gulf News. It said problems erupted less than eight months later when Matouk asked her to stop singing and become a housewife, which she refused.
As the situation worsened, Matouk filed a lawsuit against Tamim for stealing 350,000 dollars from his safe, Elaph reported. He also accused her of trying to murder him, after the car he was driving came under gunfire in Lebanon in 2004.
Even prior to her marriages, Tamim is reported to have gone into hiding for several months for unexplained reasons. According to Gulf News, the star spent much of her short life between courts, police stations and hideouts.
Tamim had released two albums and was considered a rising star among a new generation of Lebanese pop singers.
No one has been arrested yet in connection with the death. Dubai Police are investigating the murder.
(Compiled and edited by Ayesha Bhatty).