USF to confer posthumous PhDs on Limon, Bristy

The University of South Florida (USF) has decided to confer posthumous doctoral degrees on two Bangladeshi PhD students, Zamil Ahmed Limon and Nahida Sultana Bristy, who were brutally killed in the United States.

The decision will be formalised during the university’s spring convocation on May 9, according to a Facebook post by Golam Mortoza, minister (press) at the Bangladesh Embassy in the US.

Citing an official letter from the university, he said USF informed the Bangladesh Consulate in Miami of the move in a communication issued on Tuesday.

The university has requested that a consulate representative attend the convocation to receive the degrees on behalf of the victims’ families.

Mortoza confirmed that a representative from the Miami Consulate will be present at the ceremony to accept the honours.

In a separate update, he said the body of Nahida Sultana Bristy is expected to arrive in Dhaka on May 9.

Her remains will be flown from Orlando International Airport at 8:50pm (local time) on Emirates flight EK 0220 to Dubai, before continuing on EK 0582, scheduled to land in Dhaka at 8:40am.

He added that the Bangladesh Consulate in Miami is overseeing the process, while the Bangladesh Embassy in Washington, DC, is coordinating with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The first namaz-e-janaza for Bristy is set to be held in Tampa at 2:00pm (local time) on Wednesday.