Dubai: Lebanese singer Suzan Abdul Sattar Tamim was found murdered at her apartment in Dubai Marina on Monday night, police said.
Police officials said Suzan, 31, had been stabbed several times.
Officials said police received a report from a relative of the victim who lives in Sharjah. Police went to her apartment in Burj Al Remal building in Dubai Marina at 8pm and found her body. Police officials said the crime could have taken place several hours before her body was discovered.
Some celebrity websites said the singer was stabbed and her face disfigured with a knife.
Police said the body has been handed to the forensic department for further investigations.
Suzan was living alone in the Burj Al Remal building for the past eight months. Suzan won a famous Lebanese talent show, Studio Al Fan. The show produced by Simon Asmar in 1996 was broadcast on LBC.
During her early career, she had many hit singles. She then left Beirut for Paris. She never said why she decided to relocate to Paris, but stressed she had personal issues.
She came back to Beirut in 2002, and made an album called Saken Albi. She also played the main character in a famous play called Ghadat Al Kamilia by Elias Rahbani in 2003. After the play, she left for Egypt and lived there until she disappeared eight months ago to be found dead in her apartment in Dubai Marina.
Sources say she is still officially the wife of Lebanese producer Adel Matouk, who broke down on hearing the news. He is flying to Dubai from Beirut today.
Music industry: Strong-willed
A well-known singer for more than a decade in Dubai, Suzan Tamim is believed to have appeared on the stage of many of the city's hotel bars and restaurants including the Regent Palace Hotel and Jumeirah Beach Hotel.
Renowned for her strong-willed personality and feisty attitude towards life, people from Dubai's active music industry and club scene say she was well-respected.
However, it is also understood she had her moments having flown off the handle after an unsuccessful single was recorded at a Dubai music studio.
One friend, who wished to remain anonymous, said: "She was good at flipping out. A great singer but had the entertainer's attitude to go with it - which I guess you need."
Even people not involved in the music scene had heard the name around town.
One Dubai resident said: "I had always heard of the name but had never seen her live."
- Kelly Crane, Staff Reporter
