The body of Bangladeshi student Nahida Sultana Brishti, who was killed in a brutal incident in the US state of Florida, arrived in Dhaka on Saturday morning, bringing a wave of grief to her family and loved ones.
The aircraft carrying her remains landed at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at around 9:00am Bangladesh time. About an hour later, the ambulance carrying her coffin left the airport’s cargo village area as her parents, relatives, and family members gathered in mourning.
Brishti’s body had left Orlando International Airport in Florida on Thursday local time aboard an Emirates flight and reached Dhaka via Dubai. Officials from Bangladesh’s diplomatic mission in the United States were involved in the repatriation process, and a representative from the Bangladesh Consulate in Miami was present during earlier funeral proceedings in Florida.
A first funeral prayer for Brishti was held on Wednesday in Tampa, where students, teachers, and members of the Bangladeshi community joined to pay their respects. Brishti, 27, was a PhD student in chemical engineering at the University of South Florida.
Another Bangladeshi PhD student from the same university, Jamil Ahmed Limon, 27, was also killed in the same case. His body was brought back to Bangladesh on May 4. The university has posthumously awarded doctoral degrees to both Brishti and Limon.
The two students were reported missing on April 16 after a friend alerted university authorities. Police later confirmed that both had been murdered. A US citizen, Hisham Abughraibeh, who was Limon’s roommate, has been arrested in connection with the killings.