Dhaka court allows withdrawal of case over doctor Dhipra’s death

A Dhaka court has allowed the withdrawal of a case filed against four people, including the husband, father-in-law and mother-in-law of physician Nafisa Tabassum Dhipra, over her death in the capital’s Dhanmondi area.

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Jewel Rana passed the order on Wednesday (August 19) following an application from the complainant, Mashiur Rahman Shah.

Court bench assistant Abu Shahin confirmed the development.

In his application, Mashiur said he had filed the case out of a sense of social responsibility after learning about Dhipra’s death through social media. He later spoke with Dhipra's family and learned that some information contained in the complaint was inaccurate, prompting him to seek withdrawal of the case.

Mashiur filed the case on June 16 against Dhipra's husband, physician Dr Rahmat Rashid; her father-in-law, Dr Mohammad Abdur Rashid, head of the cardiology department at BIRDEM Hospital; her mother-in-law, Siddika Sultana; and Shimu Naser, editor of satire website 'Yarki', along with several unnamed people.

The complaint alleged negligent death, abuse and concealment of evidence through burial without a post-mortem examination. The court had initially directed the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to investigate the allegations.

Mashiur later applied to withdraw the case on July 29. In the application, he said he met Dhipra's father, Alauddin, after the latter opposed an application seeking exhumation of her body and learned details about the circumstances surrounding her death. He also said information from other sources indicated that Dhipra had died of cardiac arrest.

Based on the information, Mashiur said he realised that the allegations in his complaint contained factual inaccuracies and that he no longer wished to pursue the case.

The original complaint had alleged that Dhipra married Rahmat Rashid, a former classmate, following a relationship and that they had a two-year-old child. It also alleged that she faced family-related difficulties after marriage and later suffered depression, including postpartum depression, as well as hypertension and diabetes.

The complaint further alleged that she was denied adequate medical care and was prevented from preparing for the FCPS examination. It also referred to social media posts in which Dhipra allegedly discussed family-related abuse.