Model 'kills herself while on video call with husband'

Model and actress Risila Binte Wazer allegedly committed suicide keeping her husband on a video call at her residence in the capital's Badda yesterday.

She was found hanging at her Suvastu Nazar Valley residence in Shajahadpur in the afternoon, said Rafiqul Islam, assistant commissioner of police in Gulshan division.

Risila was declared dead after she was taken to United Hospital in Gulshan around 2:00pm, said Dr Shagufa Anwar, communication and business development director of the hospital.

“We came to know that she had committed suicide. We are looking into the matter,” Rafiqul said.

Quoting Risila's mother and husband, Abu Bakar Siddique, officer-in-charge of Gulshan Police Station, said she had been taking drugs for nearly five months.  Just before hanging herself, she was talking to her husband, an employee of a buying house, through WhatsApp. Her husband had gone to Narsingdi for official work and she was alone at home. 

Seeing Risila trying to commit suicide, her husband cut the video call and phoned his mother-in-law who then rushed to the house and broke in only to find her hanging from the ceiling.

Reasons behind the suicide could not be known, but police suspected that she had been suffering from depression. The couple have a four-year-old daughter.

An unnatural death case was filed with Gulshan police in connection with the incident. Risila's body was taken to Dhaka Medical College morgue for an autopsy.

As the news of Risila's death spread, many of her acquaintances expressed shock on Facebook.

Born and raised in Chittagong, Risila was pursuing her undergraduate in English literature at Atish Dipankar University of Science and Technology, alongside modeling.