Comilla University Student Found Hanging in Fatullah Rented Flat: Family Claims Planned Murder, Husband in Police Custody

Police have recovered the body of Farzana Islam, a student of the Pharmacy department at Comilla University, from a rented flat in Fatullah, Narayanganj. Although the incident is initially being treated as a suicide, her family claims it was a planned murder. Farzana's husband, Nazmul Islam, a former student of the same department, has been taken into custody for questioning.

Farzana's elder brother, Mohammad Ariful Islam, said her body was recovered at around 10:30 pm on Saturday (24 October) from a rented flat in the Bhuighar area under Fatullah police station. Farzana was studying in the master's programme of the Pharmacy department in the 2024–25 academic session. Her village home is in Bancharampur, Brahmanbaria.

Family sources said Farzana married Nazmul Islam, a former student of the same department from the 2016–17 session, three years ago after a long relationship. Nazmul's home is in Chandpur. For the past two and a half months, the couple had been living in that rented flat in Bhuighar, Fatullah, because of Nazmul's job.

Elder brother Ariful Islam alleged that since Nazmul was unemployed at the time of the marriage, Farzana's family supported him financially for about a year. That support was stopped after Nazmul got a job. Even after that, Nazmul allegedly misbehaved with Farzana over money at various times and beat her, Ariful alleged.

According to him, at one stage Farzana, subjected to abuse, went to her father's home and stayed there for four months. During that time Nazmul made no enquiries about her. Farzana's family then filed a case against Nazmul. Later, through a family settlement, Nazmul took Farzana back to his home, after which her family withdrew the case.

Ariful further said that on 24 October, Nazmul's brother-in-law phoned him to ask whether the case had been withdrawn. He confirmed that it had been, and later informed Farzana as well. Farzana told him she would talk about it when Nazmul came home.

But from 7 pm, family members found Farzana's mobile phone switched off. A few hours later, at around 10:30 pm, Nazmul phoned Ariful to say that Farzana had committed suicide. Ariful claims this was not suicide but a planned murder. He has demanded a proper investigation.

House owner Abdul Kader said that at around 10:30 pm Nazmul called him and said his wife had committed suicide. They then went and found Farzana hanging from a fan. He added that he had himself taken down the body of another suicide victim before, but found no similarity with that incident — the signs usually seen in a person who has hanged themselves, such as protruding tongue and eyes, were not present in this case, he said. Police later came and recovered the body.

Farzana's classmate Nazmun Nahar said that because it was a love marriage, Farzana did not want to share her problems with them even when difficulties arose. She said Farzana had a presentation the next day, their midterm examination was the day after, and the semester final examinations were due to begin on 15 November.

Fatullah police station Sub-Inspector (SI) Gazi Suman Mahtab said Farzana was found hanging from a fan at the scene. Her husband has been taken into custody for questioning. Although the incident initially appears to be a suicide, the real cause of death cannot be confirmed until the autopsy report is available. The investigation is ongoing, he said.

The death of a promising student just before her examinations has cast a shadow of grief over her classmates and family. Whether it was suicide or murder now depends on the autopsy report and the police investigation.