Body of Slain PhD Student Nahida Sultana Bristy Arrive in Dhaka

The body of Nahida Sultana Bristy, the Bangladeshi PhD student who was brutally murdered in Florida, USA, arrived at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) this morning. Her return follows weeks of mourning and the recent posthumous conferment of her doctoral degree by the University of South Florida (USF).

An Emirates flight (EK 0582) carrying her remains landed in Dhaka at approximately 9:15 AM today, Saturday. According to airport officials, the body was transported from Orlando via Dubai.

Bristy’s family received her remains at the airport under a heavy shadow of grief. From Dhaka, the body is being transported to her ancestral village in Madaripur, where her burial is scheduled to take place following a funeral prayer (Janaza).

This follows the return of her fellow student and colleague, Zamil Ahmed Limon, whose remains reached Dhaka on May 4 and were laid to rest in Jamalpur. Both students, aged 27, were promising scholars whose lives were cut short in a tragedy that has sent shockwaves through the Bangladeshi diaspora.

Just a day before her remains reached home, the University of South Florida honored Bristy and Limon at its Spring Commencement ceremony on May 8. Amidst an emotional atmosphere, the university posthumously awarded both students their doctoral degrees.

A representative from the Bangladesh Consulate in Miami accepted the academic honors on behalf of the bereaved families. At the ceremony, two vacant chairs—decorated with their academic regalia—served as a poignant reminder of their absence and the significant academic contributions they had made before their untimely deaths.

The tragedy began on April 16, when both students were reported missing. US investigators later recovered Limon’s body on April 24 near a bridge in Tampa, while Bristy’s body was found two days later in a nearby waterway.

The prime suspect, 26-year-old Hisham Abugharbieh—who was Limon’s roommate—is currently in custody. He faces two counts of first-degree murder with a weapon. Prosecutors allege that the killings were premeditated, and investigators utilized license plate readers and cellphone data to link the suspect to the crime scenes. The trial is expected to continue in a Florida court as both the university community and the victims' families in Bangladesh seek justice.