Raudha Athifs death
PBI launches fresh probe
OUR CORRESPONDENT, Rajshahi
A fresh investigation was launched for the fifth time in the city on Saturday into the death of Maldivian model and medical student Raudha Athif. The Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) is probing the death again following a court order. Rajshahi PIB additional superintendent of police (ASP) Towhidul Arif confirmed receiving the courts order. He said the PBI has appointed inspector Alamgir Hossain as the investigation officer. The investigation officer has visited the spot of occurrence and talked to witnesses, he added.
Raudha Athif, 20, was featured as a Maldivian model on the cover of Vogue magazine in 2016. She was studying second year MBBS at Islami Bank Medical College in Rajshahi. She was found dead in her college dormitory room on March 29.
Following her death, sub-inspector Ataur Rahman of Shah Makhdum police station and inspector Rashidul Hasan of the Detective Branch (DB) investigated her death and submitted final reports confirming suicide.
On April 10, after Raudhas father Mohammad Athif filed a murder case, inspector Anwar Ali of Shah Makhdum police station investigated the case and also submitted his final report.While all the three reports confirmed Raudhas suicide, none of them mentioned the reason that drove her to take that step.
Raudhas father Mohamed Athif, who is also a physician, rejected the police findings. He argued that he saw finger marks on her neck, and claimed that somebody strangulated her to death. During its investigation into the case, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) exhumed Raudhas body from her grave for a second autopsy. On October 17, CID inspector Asmaul Haque submitted his final report, terming the murder case a mistake of facts and confirming her suicide.
The CIDs final report said Raudha took her life by hanging herself as she could not endure her break-up with her Maldivian boyfriend, who was studying in London. Apart from local police, a Maldivian police team visited Rajshahi for five days till April 7, also ruled out the possibility that she was murdered.
On November 28, when Raudhas father submitted his no confidence on the CIDs final report, the court of a metropolitan magistrate asked the PBI to investigate the case.
