The body of Rahanuma Sarah, newsroom editor of Gazi TV, was recovered from Hatirjheel Lake of Dhaka early Wednesday, said police.
Md Saiful Islam, Officer-in-Charge of Hatirjheel Police Station, confirmed saying that a restaurant employee named Md Sagor spotted the body floating in the lake and took her to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) where doctors declared her dead upon arrival around 1:45 am.
Rahanuma, 32, daughter of Bakhtiar Shikdar of Noakhali’s Sonaimuri upazila, had been living with her husband Sayed Shuvro in a rented house in Dhaka’s Kalyanpur area.
Replying to a question, the OC said whether it is suicide or murder will be known only after getting the autopsy report.
DMCH police outpost in-charge Md Bchhu Mia said the body was sent to the hospital morgue for autopsy.
The deceased’s husband Shuvro told media at DMCH that they got married seven years back without informing their families.
On Tuesday night, Rahanuma went to office and did not return home, but sent the house rent through a person at around 10:30 pm.
“Later I called her and said that if you don’t come home at night, why did you send money through someone else? She replied that she was busy and hung up. Later, at around 3 am, we received news that she had jumped into Hatirjheel Lake,” Shuvro said.
Later, he came to DMCH and saw her body there, he added.
“We haven’t had arguments, but my wife had been wanting to separate for quite some time,” he said, adding that they both went to a local Kazi office for divorce. In this situation, it was impossible to go to the Kazi office,” the husband said.
On Tuesday, around midnight, Rahanuma uploaded a post on her Facebook account, writing in Bangla, “It is better to die than being dead while alive.”
Soon after, she posted another status tagging one Fahim Faisal and sharing a few pictures. The post read: “Good to have a friend like you. God bless you. I hope all your dreams will come true soon. We had a lot of plans. Sorry, I can’t fulfill the plans. May God bless you in every aspect of your life.”