Police have initially suspected that National Citizen Party (NCP) leader Jannat Ara Rumi may have died by suicide due to depression linked to family-related distress.
DMP’s Dhanmondi Division Additional Deputy Commissioner Jisanul Haque told TIMES of Bangladesh on Thursday evening that Rumi had been suffering from depression for some time over family disputes or related issues.
“We are initially suspecting that the incident of suicide occurred due to that depression,” he said.
Earlier on Thursday morning, police recovered the hanging body of Jannat Ara Rumi from a private female student hostel on Purana Kachabazar area of Jhigatola in the capital.
Her body was later sent to the Dhaka Medical College Hospital morgue.
Jisanul Haque said the exact cause of death would be confirmed after the post-mortem examination.
Jannat Ara Rumi was serving as joint coordinator of the NCP’s Dhanmondi Thana Coordination Committee, which was announced on 6 November.
Inspector Shahadat Hossain of Hazaribagh police said that, after speaking to people in the surrounding area, police learned that Rumi had been mentally distressed due to family reasons. He also said depression medication was found in her room.
He said police reached the scene after receiving a call to the national emergency number 999 and found Rumi hanging from a ceiling fan, adding that the hostel rooms were partitioned with hardboard, making adjacent rooms partially visible.
Mehedi Hasan, a cousin of the deceased, said Rumi lived in a mess at the Jigatala residence. He said she had been married twice, both marriages ended in separation, and she has two children who live with their father.
Jannat Ara Rumi hailed from Patnitala upazila in Naogaon, and her father’s name is Zakir Hossain.
