Doctor Dhipra death: Petition to file case against husband, in-laws

A petition has been filed at a Dhaka court asking for a case to be taken up over the death of doctor Nafisa Tabassum Dhipra in Dhaka’s Dhanmondi against four people, including her doctor husband, father-in-law and mother-in-law.

Lawyer Md Mashiur Rahman Shah filed the petition with Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Jewel Rana's court on Tuesday, alleging negligence leading to her death, torture and concealment of evidence by burying her without a postmortem.

When asked, complainant lawyer Mashiur Rahman Shah said, “I have no relationship or contact with Dr Dhipra’s family. I also have two daughters; I filed the case out of distress so that others may stand by them in such a situation.”

The court has recorded the plaintiff's statement and is awaiting an order, said the plaintiff's lawyer, Deputy Attorney General Md Farhad Hossain Niyon.

The petition has requested the suspects in the case to be listed as Dhipra's husband Dr Rahmat Rashid, her father-in-law and head of the cardiology department at BIRDEM Mohammad Abdur Rashid, her mother-in-law Siddika Sultana and satirical website Yarki Editor Shimu Naser.

Several others have also been listed as unidentified suspects.

The petition says Dhipra married her classmate Rashid after the two became involved in a romantic relationship. They have a two-year-old son.

Following the marriage, Dhipra was subjected to “physical and mental torture” by the family.

"As a result, she suffered from severe depression. After giving birth, she suffered from post-partum depression, high blood pressure and diabetes,” the petition read.

"Despite being a doctor, the accused neglected her necessary medical treatment and care. She was also hindered in various ways during her preparation for the FCPS (Fellow of the College of Physicians and Surgeons) exam. Before her death, she had posted about domestic abuse in a Facebook group called 'Female Doctors in Bangladesh'.

"For three straight days from Jun 2, Dr Dhipra was locked in a room. During this time she was not given food, and not allowed to see her 2-year-old child. On Jun 4, her mother got word of the situation and went to her flat at Basati Green Housing in Dhanmondi. She found her daughter locked up and requested that the lock be opened.”

“Later, Dhipra came out of the room, hugged her mother and said ‘Mom, I want to eat a meal’. After that, she collapsed onto the floor. After she fell ill, she was not immediately taken to a nearby hospital. Instead, there was a delay and she eventually died on the way to BIRDEM Hospital.”

The petition alleged that after Dhipra’s death, a death certificate was obtained “without an autopsy with the intention of suppressing the incident” and the burial was conducted quickly.

The plaintiff’s lawyer Farhad Hossain said, “There was a delay in taking legal action initially because the accused were influential and the deceased’s parents are religious and helpless.”

Farhad said a petition has been made to issue an arrest warrant against the accused after taking note of the complaint.