MAKKAH: Family problems were the main reason for the suicide of Nasser Al-Harithy, a former professor at Makkah’s Umm Al-Qura University, according to his second wife. At the same time, Harithy’s mother refuted reports that her son had committed suicide.

The 50-year-old history and culture professor was found dead in an apparent suicide at his residence in the Al-Awali district of Makkah on Friday. Al-Harithy, the author of 30 books and 70 research papers, apparently hanged himself with a noose made from his headdress.

Maj. Abdul Muhsin Al-Maiman, a spokesman for Makkah police, said Al-Harithy’s death was a suicide. But his mother sent a letter to Makkah Gov. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal expressing doubts over the security official’s statement that her son had committed suicide.

Al-Harithy’s wife has presented a letter to the Prosecution and Investigation Commission giving a general idea of his situation. She said he paid most of his debts, some SR3 million, last year; she said that his salary and other income helped him to do so. She believes that the ongoing investigation will extend to all members of the family as a result of the letter she gave to the commission.

She said she felt that strange things had been happening in their home and that some people had alleged that her husband was suffering from mental problems in order to give the impression that his death was a suicide.

“These people had even advised him to consult a psychiatrist. His condition worsened in the last nine months and this affected all our lives,” the wife pointed out.

She said the report that he committed suicide as a result of mental problems was totally untrue. She also ruled out suggestions that a jinn had affected him. “He died because of pressure from within the family.”

She said it was impossible for Al-Harithy, being a strong believer in God and a learned scholar, to commit suicide as a result of financial problems.

“He had debts for the last three years. If he was thinking of suicide, he would have committed it a long time ago,” she said. She indicated that somebody was behind his death without naming the person.

But the professor’s son Basim said his father committed suicide as a result of mental depression. He said Al-Harithy’s writing of a will did not mean that he had wished to commit suicide long time ago. “He used to revise his will every two years as a Sunnah.”