A kind-hearted person, ready to help others
Maldivian Raudha Athif's friends at Islami Bank Medical College in Rajshahi remember her as a happy and kind-hearted person who was always ready to help others.
But then what would possibly go wrong that made her commit suicide, as suspected when she was found hanging from the ceiling fan of her dormitory room on Wednesday!
Those who knew Athif from up close seem to have been recalling their days with her to come up with an explanation as one of them, Aishath Najaa Faiz, a fifth year student of the college, said, “I have no idea why she would commit suicide. I still can't believe it”.
An autopsy might confirm if it was a suicide.
But her mother Aminath Muharrimath, who flew in to Rajshahi along with the Maldives ambassador yesterday afternoon, requested police to hand over the body to the family without a post mortem, said Amir Zafar, deputy commissioner of Rajshahi Metropolitan Police.
Rajshahi police sought permission from the police headquarters in Dhaka in this regard.
“If all important family members including her parents want her body without autopsy, we can think about it,” Zafar said.
Police, however, have doubts as to whether the “inspiring” girl who had once been featured as a model on the cover of Vouge India magazine could commit suicide, added the city's chief police official of east zone.
A primary probe and the inquest report suggest it is a case of suicide.
Maldives Ambassador to Bangladesh Aishath Shann Shakir and the victim's mother, meanwhile, visited the private medical college where Athif had been studying in the second year for her MBBS degree. They also talked to her friends, college authorities and police.
Most of Athif's friends refused to talk to the media.
The last time she was seen studying with Indian Kashmiri girl Sirat Parveen at the dorm around 12:30am that day. Police believe she died sometime after that.
Sirat declined to talk.
Najaa Faiz, who stays in a room next to Athif's, said her death was shocking and unbelievable.
The two became friends since Athif went to the college in January last year.
“I remember her as a happy person. She was an inspiration to so many people,” said Najaa shedding tears.
Najaa along with Athif and another friend made two swings under the shade of a mango tree inside their hostel premises in March.
Athif used to tell them, “After I go back home, these [swings] will remain as a memory of us over here.
“Girls will go to the shed, relax and think of us,” she had said as quoted by Najaa.
“Every time I see the swings now, I can't hold my tears,” Najaa said.
The college authorities mourned Raudha's death at a meeting yesterday morning. They termed the incident as “suicide” committed out of “a wrong decision made from personal depression”.
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