A Rajshahi court Wednesday ordered police to probe the death of Maldivian model and student, Raudha Atif, who died in Bangladesh five years ago.
Raudha was found dead in her room in the dormitory of Islami Bank Medical College in Rajshahi city on March 29, 2017. Bangladesh police investigated her death several times and conducted a post-mortem on her body. Each time, police determined that Raudha had committed suicide.
However, Raudha's father, Mohamed Athif, refused to accept the police's conclusion and asked for a homicide investigation into Raudha's death. Athif also rejected the final report submitted by the Crime Investigation Department (CID) of Bangladesh Police to the Rajshahi Metropolitan Magistrate's Court.
The Death Commission established by President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih also concluded that Raudha committed suicide. The commission's report on Raudha's death was also rejected by her father, who believes there was foul play in her death.
A Bangladeshi newspaper quoted Athif's lawyer Aslam Sarkar as saying that the Rajshahi court on Wedneday ordered the case to be handed over to an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) officer for re-investigation. A copy of the order to investigate the case for a sixth time has been sent to the Rajshahi police, he said.
Another student who lived with Raudha was accused of being involved in Raudha's death. However, the Bangladesh CID concluded that the accused student is not guilty of Raudha's murder. Raudha committed suicide after she broke up with her boyfriend, the report said.
