Missing PhD student Bristy in US also dead, says brother
Nahida Sultana Bristy, a Bangladeshi student who had gone missing in the US state of Florida, is no longer alive.
Her brother, Zahid Hasan Pranto, confirmed this in a post on social media. However, her body has not yet been recovered.
Earlier, on Friday, local police in Florida recovered the mutilated body of another missing Bangladeshi PhD student, Jamil Ahmed Limon, 27.
Both Limon and Bristy had gone missing on 17 April in the United States. They were PhD students at the University of South Florida.
Limon was pursuing his doctorate in Geography, Environmental Science and Policy, while Nahida was undertaking her PhD in Chemical Engineering. The two were last seen on campus the day before they went missing.
Zahid Hasan shared the news of his sister’s death in a Facebook post at around 9:30 on Saturday morning.
The post, which has already been shared nearly 900 times stated, “My sister is no more. Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un.”
Zahid Hasan also confirmed Bristy’s death to Prothom Alo. Speaking this afternoon, he said, “We received a call from the local police in the United States early this morning. She (Brishti) has not yet been found or recovered. The suspect (arrested Hisham Abugharbieh) has confirmed that it was actually both of them. The suspect was, in fact, trying to dispose of another body.”
Quoting local US police, Zahid Hasan added, “They told me they cannot yet guarantee whether the body will be recovered… This is what the local police informed me over the phone.”
Other media outlets, quoting Zahid Hasan, reported that a part of a body found lying in blood at Brishti’s residence matched her DNA.
However, authorities have not been able to confirm whether the full body will be recovered.
Earlier, on Friday, US police recovered the mutilated body of the other missing student, Jamil. At a press conference, the Hillsborough County law enforcement authorities stated that his body had been recovered from the Howard Frankland Bridge in Tampa, Florida.
In connection with their disappearance, local police have arrested a 26-year-old American citizen named Hisham Saleh Abugharbieh. He had been sharing a room with Jamil. Police arrested him from his family residence.