Ridhika Ridhi's boyfriend arrested, sent to jail in suicide abetment case

A court has sent actor and model Ridhika Ridhi's boyfriend Hasibur Rahman, 28, to jail in a case filed over the alleged abetment of her suicide. 

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Mahbub Alam passed the order today (16 August) following a police petition seeking to keep Hasibur in custody.

Kamal Hossain, sub-inspector of the Dhaka Metropolitan Prosecution Division, said that the court has fixed 18 August for the bail hearing at the request of the accused's lawyer. As police did not seek remand, Hasibur was not taken to the courtroom.

Ridhika's mother, Moni Begum, filed the case at Vatara Police Station yesterday (15 August), accusing Hasibur of abetting her daughter's suicide. Police arrested him from the Bashundhara Residential Area at around 9:30pm that day.

Today, the case's investigating officer, Vatara Police Station Sub-Inspector Abdul Wadud, produced Hasibur before the court and sought an order to keep him in jail.

According to the police petition, Hasibur allegedly caused Lina mental distress over various issues through mobile phone conversations and provoked her to commit suicide. It said Lina died by hanging herself sometime between 5am and 5:30am yesterday (15 August) after being unable to tolerate the alleged abuse and provocation.

The petition also stated that Hasibur confessed to the offence during preliminary questioning and admitted his involvement in the incident.

According to the case statement, Ridhi's body was recovered from a rented flat in Bashundhara Residential Area yesterday. She was found hanging from a ceiling fan with a scarf around her neck.

Ridhi lived at the flat and worked in the media industry. Her family alleged that she had been in a long-term romantic relationship with Hasibur and that he had subjected her to physical and mental abuse in various ways since the beginning of their relationship.

What happened on the night of her death

According to the case statement, Ridhi was at her flat with her friends Ishan and Jannat on the night of 14 August.

Around 11pm, an argument broke out between Ridhi and Hasibur over the phone. She then asked her friends to sleep in the drawing room.

At around 5:30am, Hasibur went to Ridhi's flat and knocked on the door. After her friends opened it, he told them that she had hanged herself after becoming angry with him.

The friends entered the room and found Ridhi hanging from the ceiling fan. They immediately took her to Kurmitola General Hospital, where doctors declared her dead.

Police had earlier said Ridhi appeared to have died by suicide while on a video call with Hasibur. Her body was subsequently sent to the Dhaka Medical College Hospital morgue for an autopsy.

Police also found evidence on her mobile phone that she had been on a video call with Hasibur before her death.

Alongside modelling, Lina Akter, known professionally as Ridhika Ridhi, acted in several television dramas, including Ekhane Manush Bikri Hoy, Bohurupi, Double Honeymoon and Shundori.