Pretty Bay Drowning Victim Was About To Get Married, Best Friend Says In Emotional Tribute
Akhil Biju, drowning victim Arun Louis’s best friend, spoke to Lovin Malta about his friend’s untimely passing.
The tragic incident, which resulted in Arun’s drowning, took place last Sunday at around 6.15am, after he allegedly went to Pretty Bay for an early morning swim.
Akhil and Arun moved to Malta together around three years ago, along with another one of their friends. Back in India, Arun left his parents, a recently-married brother, a sister, and a girlfriend – who he was allegedly about to marry.
Despite the distance between Arun and his family, they maintained a strong relationship. Arun would take it upon himself to video call his parents for a few minutes every single day.
Since his arrival in Malta, Arun took up the habit of visiting Akhil’s house on the weekends, where together with the latter’s girlfriend and a few other friends, they would cook food, play games, and have a few drinks.
Despite having a good three or four close friends, Akhil said that Arun was still “a lonely guy who liked his privacy.” In light of this, he would often head off on long walks or early morning swims by himself.
“He had friends, but he liked being alone,” Akhil said. “My girlfriend and I were like family to him.”
The two shared a very strong bond, and despite Arun’s introverted nature, his heart of gold always shined through.
“He was the best guy. Every time I needed help, I’d call him.” Akhil said. “If I ever needed money, he’d give it to me. His only problem was that he liked his privacy a little bit too much.”
Nothing out of the ordinary happened the night prior to Arun’s death, Akhil said. “He came to my house with a bottle of alcohol, we ate food together, and played PUBG”
The group of friends went asleep at around 2am. A few hours later, their friend Nived woke up to go to the toilet – only to find that Arun wasn’t in bed.
After Nived informed his friends that Arun wasn’t there, they all set out to look for him.
“By the seaside, a fisherman told us there was an accident,” Akhil said. “Then we saw another fisherman giving Arun CPR.”
An ambulance was there and Mater Dei doctors were called to the scene. However by the time they arrived, Arun was already pronounced dead.
Anto Manuel, a prominent member of Malta’s Indian community, said that a COVID-19 test is being conducted on Arun’s body. Once this is done, an autopsy will be performed and the body will be repatriated to India.
However, to Arun’s mates, the unexpected death of their quiet, loyal friend will be something they’ll always live with.