Thursday July 8, 2021
By Isabella D'Emilio
Family believe she was the victim of a tragic accident
The crime scene at Stanmore Lake (Image: HarrowOnline)
A family friend of a woman who was found dead in a lake in Harrow has said the family is 'broken and in total shock'.
Adar Diriye in her 50s, and a mother of five, was found in the lake by Howard Road, Stanmore on Sunday, June 27 following reports that a body had been seen in a water.
Ali Kadim was best friends with Adar’s son Abdul Hakim, 29, and the pair attended Park High school in Stanmore from 2007. He said the family are in total shock and it was like a nightmare since receiving the news.
Speaking of Adar’s son and four daughters, Ali said: “They’re slowly coming to accept to what’s happened.”
Adar, who was originally from Somalia, came to the UK around 20 years ago and the family lived in Leicester before settling in Stanmore.
Described as an ‘extremely humble and down to earth woman’, the family were well known within the local Somali community.
Adar is known to have been suffering with long term health problems including arthritis and a heart condition for a number of years.
She is understood to have been recovering and getting back to normal in the weeks before the tragic incident, and Adul and his sisters had been taking care of her at the family home.
Her family believe she was going to visit friends close by to the Stanmore Place apartments when she left in the early hours of the morning.
According to Ali, her family believe she was the victim of a tragic accident and may have slipped on the pathway by the lake, she is also known to have had poor eyesight.
Ali has returned to the site with Abdul Hakim since the incident.
Police investigations are still ongoing and there have been no arrests. According to the Met police enquiries are underway to determine how the woman came to enter the water.
Ali has started a GoFundMe online appeal to raise money for the family and to help with funeral costs.
On the page it says: “This will help her family financially, especially with the funeral and burial costs. Any support will be very meaningful and helpful.”
The appeal has raised £2,000 so far and a group of friends have donated and shared the post, supporting the family in general, funeral costs.
The funeral is yet to take place while police investigation continues and the body has not been released to the family.