Investigators say security camera footage from the Gulshan apartment building, where college student Mosarat Jahan Munia was found dead, contains crucial evidence.
According to them, Bashundhara Group Managing Director Sayem Sobhan Anvir was seen entering and leaving the flat, where the 21-year-old started living alone in March.
"We are going through every second of the CCTV camera footage. A lot of facts and evidence have been found which will help with the investigation,” said Deputy Commissioner Sudip Kumar Chakraborty of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Gulshan Division.
Sayem has been accused of abetting suicide in the case filed by Munia’s sister Nusrat Jahan. She discovered Munia’s hanging body in the apartment on the evening of April 26 and informed the police.
According to officials involved in the probe, Sayem was last seen entering and leaving the flat on April 20.
Munia was seen in the CCTV camera footage for the last time on the night of April 25, when she was entering the flat. She did not leave the flat on the day of the incident, they said.
Investigators said they were also going through the digital evidence recovered from Munia’s two mobile phones in a bid to get an insight into her relationship with Sayem.
Contents of the six diaries recovered from the flat are being also checked as part of the investigation.
"The victim's utter frustration and mental breakdown are reflected in her diaries," Deputy Commissioner Sudip told the media on April 28.
Munia was in a relationship with Sayem, according to the dossier of the case, which accuses Sayem of instigating her to commit suicide.
Sayem used Nusrat and her husband’s papers to rent the Gulshan flat for Tk100,000 a month, said Munia’s sister Nursat.
Nusrat claimed Sayem had scolded Munia because she had gone to the flat owner’s home and had taken pictures with them, which were posted on Facebook by the owner’s wife.
Investigators said Nusrat and two of her relatives were the first people who went to the flat on that day.
Nusrat claimed Munia told her on April 25 that Sayem had tricked her and that “disaster can strike at any moment”. The next morning Munia urged her to come to Dhaka as soon as possible.
According to Nusrat, she and her two relatives arrived at the Gulshan flat from Comilla around 4pm. She had tried calling Munia on the way, but she did not answer the phone. She did not answer the door or intercom.
The flat owner was informed, who allowed a locksmith to open the door. When they entered the flat, they found Muniya hanging from the ceiling fan in the bedroom, with a scarf tied around her neck.
“I saw Munia hanging from the ceiling fan of the bedroom. Her legs were touching the bed. I have mentioned abetment to suicide in the case. But now it seems the body may have been hung after murder,” Nusrat said.
According to the inquiry report by police, Munia’s tongue was protruded and clenched between the teeth.
Police officials said the cause of death or whether the victim was raped or poisoned can be only known after the autopsy report is available.
Forensic experts declined to comment.
Prof Maksudur Rahman, head of the forensic medicine department at Dhaka Medical College Hospital, said: "A preliminary autopsy report will be given to the police on Monday. It would not be appropriate for me to say what is in the report. Those involved in the investigation will tell you about it.”
An official involved in the investigation, however, said that initial evidences confirm it as a suicide. According to him, if it was a homicide then there would have been injury marks on the body.
Moreover, CCTV camera footage did not show any one entering or leaving the flat on the day of the incident, he said before adding the probe now focuses on evidence for abetment to suicide.
