The video below is disturbing. Watch it with caution.
Video link if taken down: here.
The video looks real. And according to the following news item (link), the woman in question, Amina Ismail, did throw herself off the balcony of her apartment at the 8th floor of a Beiruti building. She has been buried in her hometown, Tyr.
I wonder what got into her husband’s head to start filming though. It must be completely natural to bring up a camera when your wife straddles herself off a balcony in order to jump to her death. Or could he have sniffed out signs that his wife might do such a thing and figured a video is the best way to prove his innocence in court?
Either way, this tragedy, regardless of whether the video turns out to be true or not, is further proof that we are in dire need for two very important things:
- De-tabooing the idea of mental health across the country,
- Making psychiatry more accessible for everyone.
I don’t know what the conditions that led to this woman jumping are. But her death, if the video isn’t fake, could have been prevented if the idea of seeking help hadn’t been, in this country, worse than the idea of death itself.
May she rest in peace.
Update: according to an email from a reader who allegedly knows the couple, the man was filming their newly bought apartment when the incident happened.
A Separate State of Mind | A Blog by Elie Fares 
“This video has been removed as a violation of youtube’s policy on shocking and disgusting content.”
Someone’s pissed….
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Yeah it’s disturbing… After the Roula Yaacoub incident, I’m sure he did it to prove his innocence. This is really sad. May she rest in peace.
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Dear people,
I know this couple personally. Unfortunately this video is REAL! It´s a sad tragedy, we know. The video is made, as this article already suggest, as this guy figured already out that she might really jump. In addition to that, this guy comes from a rich family in diamond business, as of course he doesn´t wants to spend the rest of his life in jail. Please have respect for the family.
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Respect for someone whose wife was about to jump and he was more worried about filming it in order to prove his innocence? I’m sorry but that’s unacceptable and highly illogical. You’re saying that since he’s a rich guy, he didn’t want to go to jail and so started filming. Sorry but that’s not enough for me.
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Of course its not enough for you because you don’t know the inside story nor do you know what they have been through. So as Housania advised, please have respect for the family and everything will be clear in due time. Meanwhile, don’t start pointing fingers cz it’s easy to do. Had you been put in this situation, only God knows what you would have done and how you would have dealt with it. May her soul rest in peace and may God keep her family strong.
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One thing’s for sure, I wouldn’t have started filming with such a steady hand to have the woman in frame the entire time. I’m not throwing any accusations here but come on! Something’s not right there!!
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I´m sorry, I think I only made it even more confusing. The thing is, the actual story is longer, and of course you have the right to doubt information and be critical. But please believe me, there is more going on than just filming. Of course, filming your wife jumping off a balcony is wrong. Just imagine, the fight had been between she and her mother. She was totally unhappy with this situation, and her husband tried to calm her down. As he noticed, she really wants to jump, he couldn´t do that much. Everyone knows you better never reach a person who is about to jump, because it´s proven, out of fear, they will jump! So, second, this happens in Lebanon! Without this video, the family of this wife will accuse him and claim all his money! We should be thankful that we all carry cameras these days to make court trials easy in such cases! This guy send this video out to close family, in case he would be arrested. One of the families send the video further to others, and that is wrong. Putting this video on internet is even more wrong. So please, don´t judge. This guy is a really nice person, and he just got married 6 months ago, with the intention to spend the rest of his life with her. Why would he let her go so easily? Show some respect please.
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This is so surreal I feel I am missing something here!! my question is how is this country still running?? The fact that we managed to erase any form of law or systematic approach to run a country has , for good or worse, unveiled the filth and dirt this society lives on. Set under titles like Honour Crime, Defending his Innocence, She was provocative and naughty, It was a reaction, bla bla bla … It seems that the thousands of years of “Whatever” couldn’t lift these masses from their primordial style of life.
Amazing, and the show is surely going on ..
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its meaningless to put it on youtube after all no matter what the reason is
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I agree with Michele. he did not protect her instead he let her jump and he filmed it to prove his innocence. What’s wrong with you people? even if you knew the couple, it doesnt mean that what he did is acceptable!! she needed a psychiatrist, why did he let it go this far? May her soul RIP. Yet another victim of our narrow minded society. Sad.
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If this ever happens to your wife or husband, tell her or him to wait and call a psychiatrist! What are you? Everyone knows it´s not easy to handle this situations: you know want to play Dr. Bee? Hallo, people out there kill themselves every second! A normal person doesn´t know what´s going on in someone´s mind before jumping off a balcony.
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It’s normal reaction to start filming someone in this situation. I filmed the repair man once as a precaution when he insisted on hanging out of my window to fix the AC.
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But he was not threatening to commit suicide!!! Nothing is normal in this case.
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And she was already dangling her feet when the filming started! I think by then he must have realized he should stop filming and focus on talking to her.
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What made this woman commit suicide !? what could have happened if he just came closer to her try to calm her down instead of filming maybe he was afraid of her jumping and taking him with her !? No matter what her death is a mystery a puzzle what a coincidence he was filming who does that even if he wants to prove him self innocent in the court. How could he have this guts of shooting when his beloved wife is about to jump off the balcony !? Wow this story is a puzzle.
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100% true
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As i’m lookin at the video i noticed he was facing his wife then who came from the other side !? Did he turn the camera to picture him self what the heck is going on it is blury a bizzare painful video…
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I agree with Rob. The real question is: Why was it posted on YouTube to begin with? If he did it to prove his innocence, he only needed showed the video to the authorities if he was ever a suspect. This video disrespects the victim. One of his relatives uploaded it to prove his innocence the original news piece said. Via YouTube, really?! Is this how they want the world to know her by?
What’s worse than filming someone about to commit suicide is posting it later on the internet. Talk about “lacking respect for the family”…
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Only needed to show*
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From listening to the video he says “wallah ma shifti shee…” and then “lah ekhdik ma3i…”. That implies he’s already doing stuff behind her back or saw a message from his girlfriend, more likely boyfriend judging form his fem voice and screams eheheh.
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let me add to this debate some facts then you guys can judge
1 the women come from poor family
2 she was engaged to some one before she got married
3 she was a school teacher with a salary of about 400 dollars
4 he the husband is newly reach with diamond trade in Angola
5 he was married to a Belgian women and have 3 kids
6 after marriage they went in a long honey moon then direct back to Africa
7 from Africa to Antwerp the original home of the husband
8 the husband eventually meet his 3 children
9 does the women know before marriage that he have children ????
10 was she in love with her x fiancé ?????
11 was the high life the husband introduce to her was to much ?????
12 did the husband still have some sort of relation with the x wife ????
13 the big question did any of the women past relation blackmail her drive her to collapse?????
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you speak london very best
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99% of suicides are premeditated and committed in private. So something clearly ticked her off at that moment to leap to her death. So it’s unlikely that it is any of the reasons you listed. Maybe she took his phone to start filming their new apartment, and she saw something that was hard to swallow. Remember when he told her “ma shifti shee!!” So he was refuting something that she seemed certain about. What is that she saw, we may never know.
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Why u sayin he said “ma shefti shi”?? He did not say that!! He said “3m betshufi wen ma re7et me5dek ma3e” he means that he’s giving her everything she needs and all the attention a man can give to a woman. This man was faithful to her and he loved her!!
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Dude learn Arabic! What you are saying is totally wrong!!! He doesn`t say that at all and there was nothing to refer to! He is talking directly to her! What Lina says is totally correct!
And please, stop judging!!!! I know the couple very good! They didn`t have problems, and this guy is totally faithful. What is wrong with you people? Are you trying to play FBI? Respect this situation, this guy is suffering right now and all you can do is write stupid things! If you ever find yourself in this situation, what would you do?
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HAHAHAHA, yes exactly:p
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Miss Housnia. Then explain why she would jump if nothing was wrong!! What is being hidden here? From her body language (pointing at him) in the video, it is clear she is not comfortable with him and has done something to her. Up until now, maybe not by law, but by virtue, he’s still culpable for continuing to film her while she was contemplating to jump. And when she saw that he cared more about proving his innocence, it gave her a bigger reason to leap to her death RIP. And last, he chose to take the video, to prove his innocence and bring place himself in the limelight. By doing so, he has to face up to public scrutiny. The public now expects answers!
Thank you,
LJ, QC
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Hallo Ceasar,
It seems like you know them as well? But apparently you don´t know that much!
From point 1 till 8, I totally agree! That is the situation. But WTF are you talking about dude? I was at their wedding in January! EVERYONE WAS THERE! Even his kids and ex wife! In fact, he postponed his wedding to January so that his kids could be at the wedding as well, because they had winter holidays in Belgium. He has nothing to do anymore with his ex wife, and the new woman totally accepted the step kids! In fact, the 2 daughters were the bridesmaids!!!!!!! In addition to that, she adores the kids! They were even there with HER in Lebanon and she was totally fine with that!
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Lina. I shall listen to it again and revert to you.
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So apparently you don´t understand Arabic at all? She had problems with her mother!!!!!!!!! That´s why. And if you listen to the video very closely, you will hear them talk about her mother! He even say, darling, if you have problems with your mother, then neglect her and don´t talk to her. A bit later he says, please, your mother doesn´t deserve this (referring to her jump)!!!!!!
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why did she jump ? what was she saying before she jumped . before the end of the video if u look carefully looks like hes holding a rather large knife in his left hand (on the right in the video) … maybe he told her he’d stab u to death if she donesnt jump and then took a video of her jumping with him acting , to cover up
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Naaah I dont think so about the knife. I paused it at the shadow and as much as it does look like a knife, I highly doubt it. Come on!
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You guys are disgusting! Do you like it when people talk like that when you lost a relative? Have some respect!!!! That´s why we are all in mourning now, and family and friends fly all over from USA and Europe to be there with him and support him in this hard time. You people have no clue what you are talking about.
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We sympathize with the loss of any human life, but the second he started filming he opened the door for public scrutiny. Hence the public’s interests far outweigh your concerns.
Lord Justice, QC
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stab her *** doesn’t*** sry
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My prayers go out to this family it must be really hard I can’t imagine what they are all going through Allah yerhama
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Such a tragedy! All what Housnia says is correct information. Please delete this video as respect for the family. This kind of video’s are actually not allowed to show on the news, and for a reason. So please people, have respect for the familiy…
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Hi housnia
you said, You people have no clue what you are talking about. it seems you know better and a lot
ok we don’t know can you please tell us the whole story which lead to her suicide
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I’m sure that by now everyone has watched the video of how Amina Ismail committed suicide from her balcony while her husband was filming the whole thing.
honestly, ever since I watched it the first time I can’t stop thinking about it. I can’t stop thinking how everyone is blaming the man, and making conclusions when no one REALLY knows what happened. here are my thoughts about it all.
1. notice how he was filming so steady all the time, but when he moved the camera downwards a bit, that’s when she started to make the move to jump. maybe he was trying to get closer and help, that’s why she decided to jump. and maybe that was the reason he didn’t get closer from the beginning, fearing that by doing so she’ll actually jump. which she obviously did.
STOP saying he didn’t try to help.
2. the “tool” that shows in the shadow (00:44s) is not something solid, so it couldn’t be a knife or a gun. if you go through the video frame by frame (not just pause it), you’ll see that whatever is in his hand was swinging back and forth. go back a few seconds, when he was trying to stand up, you’ll see that on (00:37s) he was grabbing his keychain, which is in the form of a black string/leather. he grabs the keys in his hand and it’s the leather of the keychain that swings back and forth.
STOP saying he was holding a weapon to threaten her.
3. for those saying that there was a third person, how in the world there’s going to be a third person if that person doesn’t even have a shadow on the wall? the guy had the keychain in one hand, the cellphone/camera in the other and that’s that. who opened the door for him? it’s a balcony door, it stays open 95% of the time.
STOP saying there was someone else with them.
4. about his voice being clear and loud, and hers isn’t. consider this:
– she’s sitting a few meters away from him.
– he’s holding the cellphone. so his mouth is practically centimeters away from the microphone.
– he’s freaking out, so his voice pretty loud.
– she’s very calm and not even trying to raise her voice. (she was even brushing her hair with her hands)
STOP saying the audio is digitally enhanced and meddled with.
5. some say he’s replying with nonsense and changing tones. well, let’s see those people in that same situation and try to speak a full coherent and meaningful sentence. he was obviously trying to talk her out of it.
STOP trying to analyze his words.
6. others say that he screamed before she jumped. that’s not correct. again, watch it closely and you’ll notice that he started screaming when she turned her back to him and put her hands by her sides starting to push herself off.
STOP trying to analyze his reactions.
7. why didn’t he start running immediately? well, he’s obviously in shock and disbelief. I don’t think the human body always acts to our accord in cases like these.
STOP trying to analyze his movements.
8. and now for the biggest question, why was he filming? well, no one really knows. but I second my opinion with those who say that he was filming the new house they just got, and saw her there so he just kept on filming to prove his innocence in case she jumps.
STOP analyzing everything!
of course, I am in no position to judge or draw conclusions, I just pointed a few obvious points that could be seen if the video is watched closely with an objective perspective without blaming one or the other.
let’s just hope this case gets the adequate investigation from the appropriate personnel.
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Hi Jhonny. I agree with you on all the points you made. But still why she jumped given that they were well off and happy ‘with nothing wrong’ as Ms Housnia portrayed them. Any thoughts?
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So you are so close to the couple, their families, and investigation sources to the point you are in a position to state with certainty he was mistreating her and infected her with a sexual disease? You’re either so delusional so as to take your own personal case or that of someone close to you as a generality, which could be understandable to some extent, or worse than that you’re a spreader of baseless calumnies and lies.
Have you even gotten your head out of your ostrich hole to notice that not one, not a single member of her family, close or far, not one of her many friends and acquaintances ever stood up to denounce a supposed case of mistreatment that drove her to commit suicide? But no, you want the world to take your wishful thinking as a reality instead of considering the facts.
There is a reason why Amina’s family is focusing on the one and only cheap angle from where they can attempt putting the blame on the innocent husband although his infection with HPV wasn’t even a secret to Amina even before they got married. He got her vaccinated before any sexual contact as her family even knows and the very fact they are aware of the husband’s disease just a few months into that short marriage further proves it. Another fact for you is that the blood tests on her, done the day she died came back negative as investigation sources have reported or else the family would have already published those results through their lawyer in order to silence the growing rumors of her mental instability caused by a sexually abusing father. And by the way, if HPV was an issue for her, which it wasn’t, then why knowingly marry him in the first place? I’ll tell you why; simply because she loved him and because this virus isn’t even an issue for most of the world population that carries it without any symptoms.
Lastly about the filming, it is important to consider the context of the event before speaking as you have the nasty habit of doing. All over the media, it was established that he was filming the back of the appt that was under work until he saw her standing at the balcony’s edge. As common sense tells you and as already pointed by others in their comments, you never rush towards someone in such a situation but try to reason. However it all went very fast and she left him no chance and did what she wanted to do. To keep on recording and at the same time trying to reason (something you’re ignoring) was the best thing to do because not only was he trying to save her as any emergency team would have done ie through negotiations but he was also this way safeguarding himself and the future of his own children and other people depending on him, by blocking the way to any false accusation the likes of those people like you are spreading.
Finally regarding the so called late arrival of the ambulance that would have saved her instead had it arrived earlier, this is disproven by the eyewitnesses and the very person who was performing first aid on her, the owner of the pharmacy nearby who confirmed her death and changing face color just 3 min following her fall.
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in order to silence the growing rumors of her mental instability caused by a sexually abusing father. And by the way, if HPV was an issue for her, which it wasn’t, then why knowingly marry him in the first place? I’ll tell you why; simply because she loved him and because this virus isn’t even an issue for most of the world population that carries it without any symptoms.
Lastly about the filming, it is important to consider the context of the event before speaking as you have the nasty habit of doing. All over the media, it was established that he was filming the back of the appt that was under work until he saw her standing at the balcony’s edge. As common sense tells you and as already pointed by others in their comments, you never rush towards someone in such a situation but try to reason. However it all went very fast and she left him no chance and did what she wanted to do. To keep on recording and at the same time trying to reason (something you’re ignoring) was the best thing to do because not only was he trying to save her as any emergency team would have done ie through negotiations but he was also this way safeguarding himself and the future of his own children and other people depending on him, by blocking the way to any false accusation the likes of those people like you are spreading.
Finally regarding the so called late arrival of the ambulance that would have saved her instead had it arrived earlier, this is disproven by the eyewitnesses and the very person who was performing first aid on her, the owner of the pharmacy nearby who confirmed her death and changing face color just 3 min following her fall.
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Now Ron we know your the dudes lawyer. Takes one to know one right ya shreek 😉
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Beautiful. I hope commit soon
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I think it’s beautiful because i wanna end my life so bad. I hate living. I can’t please God right so i deserve to die. (not you) but me. My Opinion! You can write cussing me out all you won’t because all its gonna do is make me wanna do it more. I’m 22 and i hope i don’t make it to 23. I’m worthless and life isn’t for me. I hope i can be as brave as her. Fingers crossed
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Notice how everyone here froze to eeee’s comments. b3eed 3ankon ma hada yighlat bi jawab w yitihmou. lol
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