Family finds missing DU student’s body in DMCH morgue after 8 days

Family members have identified a corpse preserved at the morgue of Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) for over a week as the body of a missing Dhaka University (DU) student.

Identified as Hafizur Rahman, the 24-year-old was a student of the 2015-16 academic session at DU’s Information Science and Library Management Department. He was also the general secretary of DU Mime Action.

Confirming the matter, Shahbagh police OC Mamun-or-Rashid said Hafizur’s body was handed over to the family on Sunday after they identified it.

Quoting witness accounts, the OC said Hafizur was seen hacking himself with a machete near the DMCH main gate, which is adjacent to the Central Shaheed Minar, on the night of May 15. Hafizur reportedly took the sharp weapon from a coconut seller.

Afterwards, a patrol team of Shahbagh police took him to DMCH. But he died on the operating table, said the OC. After police could not identify the youth at the time, his body was kept at the DMCH morgue.

According to family and friends, Hafizur spent the Eid day, May 14, at his village home in Kasba, Brahmanbaria and left for Dhaka in a hurry the next day.

After the family failed to contact him, they filed a general diary at Kasba police station. Receiving a notification, Shahbagh police contacted the family after suspecting that the body kept in the morgue could be Hafizur.

Hafizur’s elder brother Habibur Rahman came to Dhaka on Sunday and identified the body.

Habibur’s friend Nayeem Dewan received the call when Bangladesh News tried the family’s contact number for comment.

He said that Hafizur’s death was a mystery. “A youth like him who was involved in so many cultural activities cannot commit suicide. We want to know the real reason behind his death.”

Nayeem also claimed that a few of Hafizur’s close associates allegedly received phone calls from a person who demanded money for providing Hafizur’s whereabouts.

The Shahbagh police OC said that police had already filed an unnatural death case and they will investigate it. “But the family can file a case if they want.”

Meanwhile, many of Hafizur’s friends and DU students took to Facebook to mourn his untimely death and demanded a proper investigation by police into the matter.