THE DEATH OF RAUDHA ATHIF, the teen vogue model

RAUDHA ATHIF (THE VOGUE MODEL)

Raudha Athif was a talented Vogue model and a dedicated medical student whose life was tragically cut short by assassination in the city of Rajshahi, Bangladesh. She was born on May 18, 1996, and quickly gained fame as a model in her home country of Maldives after a successful photoshoot with a local photographer in 2014.

This young Maldivian woman became an overnight sensation when a photograph of her standing in water, with striking blue eyes, went viral on the internet and brought her international fame.

Even at a young age, Raudha was passionate about environmental issues and participated in an important campaign on Maldivian National Television when she was only 14 years old.

In October 2016, Raudha achieved a major milestone when she appeared on the cover of Vogue India. Despite her modeling success, she remained committed to her studies and began attending medical school at Islami Bank Medical College in Rajshahi, Bangladesh.

RAUDHA ATHIF IS FOUND DEAD

In March, Raudha Athif, aged 21, was tragically found dead in her dorm room at an all-female facility in the western city of Rajshahi. The police investigation concluded that Raudha had taken her own life by hanging herself from a ceiling fan using a scarf, as confirmed by an autopsy report.

However, her father, Mohammed Athif, believes that she was murdered. Police report state that Raudha's room was locked from the inside, and her body was discovered by other students who broke into the room. Despite these findings, an autopsy report conducted by three doctors at Rajshahi Medical College Hospital concluded that Raudha's death was a suicide.

WAS RAUDHA’S DEATH A SUICIDE OR MURDER?

Raudha's father, Mohammed Athif, who is also a doctor, expressed disbelief that his daughter took her own life and suspected foul play. Raudha's younger brother, Rayyan Athif, also believed that Raudha was murdered and her death was staged as a suicide.

According to Raudha's family, she had faced criticism for not adhering to the Islamic dress code, despite wearing a veil covering her face while on college premises. She had been criticized for wearing jeans and was repeatedly told by some that she shouldn't wear them at a Muslim college. Her family believed that her choice of clothing could have made her a target for extremist Islamic groups in the area.

Raudha's family also claimed that the marks found on her neck during the autopsy were not birthmarks, as originally reported, but instead showed signs of bruising that could have been caused by a hand and a belt. They also alleged that Raudha had reported someone trying to drug her drink the week before her death.

Raudha's father filed a case against Sirat Parvin, a Kashmiri student who was also her roommate, on April 10, 2017. However, a post-mortem examination carried out with the consent of Raudha's father concluded that her death was indeed a suicide. The family accused the Bangladeshi police of negligence in their investigation and campaigned for a criminal investigation into her death.

After a criminal investigation was granted, the Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) was assigned to investigate Raudha Athif's death. The PBI's final report concluded that Raudha had taken her own life due to "utter despair" over the breakup with her boyfriend, Shahi Ghani.

The report stated that Raudha had infiltrated Shahi's Facebook Messenger and discovered that he was cheating on her the night before her death. She attempted suicide by taking sedative pills on March 28 and was treated at her medical college hospital. The PBI also found rat killers on her bed, but Raudha did not use them.

In the early hours of the next day, Raudha messaged Shahi saying, "I only loved you, you never loved me. You are a terrible human being. You've done irreparable damage. There's nothing left...I feel hollow. I feel dead. You killed me." The investigating officer stated that these messages clearly show that Raudha couldn't endure Shahi's cheating and killed herself.

However, there are still ongoing discussions and beliefs that Raudha did not commit suicide but was murdered and appeared to look like a suicide act