CID to investigate case filed over Dr Dhipra

A court has ordered the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the police to investigate and submit a report on the case filed over the death of female physician Dr. Nafisa Tabassum Dhipra in the capital's Dhanmondi. The case was filed against four persons, including the deceased's husband and father-in-law.

Earlier on Tuesday (June 16), the deceased's relative Md. Mashiur Rahman Shah filed a plea with the court of Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Jewel Rana asking for a case to be taken in connection with the death. At that time, the court recorded the plaintiff's statement and kept it pending for the order.

Later in the afternoon, the court ordered the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the police to investigate and submit a report.

The accused in the case are the deceased's mother-in-law Siddika Sultana, her husband Dr. Rahmat Rashid, her father-in-law Dr. Mohammad Abdur Rashid (Head of Department, Cardiac Department, BIRDEM Hospital) and Earki editor Simu Naser.

The plaintiff's lawyer, Farhad Hossain, confirmed the news.

The complaint states that while studying, Dr. Nafisa Tabassum Dhipra had a love affair with her classmate Dr. Rahmat Rashid and later they got married. They currently have a 2-year-old son. Since Dr. Dhipra comes from a relatively poor family, the defendants have been physically and mentally torturing her since their marriage. Due to the continuous mental torture, she suffered from severe depression and after giving birth, she suffered from post-partum depression, high blood pressure and diabetes.

The complaint also states that the defendants, despite being doctors themselves, deliberately neglected Dr. Dhipra by not paying for her treatment. The defendants even wrongfully prevented her from preparing for the FCPS exam. It is mentioned that a few days before her death, Dr. Dhipra had posted about the domestic abuse she had suffered in a Facebook group called 'Female Doctors in Bangladesh'.

The plaintiff further alleged that for three consecutive days starting from June 2, the accused locked Dr. Dhipra in the room. During these three days, she was not given any food and was not allowed to see her 2-year-old child. On June 4, after receiving the news, Dr. Dhipra's mother went to flat number 43 on 4/A Road in the 'Bosoti Green' housing area of ​​Dhanmondi. When she saw her daughter locked there and requested to open the lock, her husband opened the lock. After being released from the house, Dr. Dhipra hugged her mother and said, 'Mom, I will eat rice.' As soon as she said this, she fell on the floor of the house.

The complaint further states that the accused deliberately delayed taking Dr. Dhipra to a hospital immediately after she fell on the ground, using the influence of her father-in-law, Dr. Mohammad Abdur Rashid, to take her to a distant BIRDEM hospital in the name of treatment. Later, Dr. Dhipra died on the way. In order to cover up the crime after the death, the accused used their influence to issue a false death certificate and hastily bury the body without any postmortem. This is not a natural death of Dr. Dhipra, but a well-planned murder and an attempt to destroy evidence, the complaint claims.