April 27, 2026
DHAKA – “Father, I am attending classes at the university. I am busy with lab work. Around 5:00pm, we will go shopping. I will go with a friend.”
That was the last conversation Nahida Sultana Bristy had with her father on April 16.
“There was so much joy in her voice,” said Jahir Uddin Akon over the phone.
“She was supposed to return home in July. She used to buy things for herself and for us whenever she found time.”
Now, he says, that voice is gone.
“No one will call me ‘father’ anymore. I used to call my daughter ‘Ma’. I will not be able to call anyone ‘Ma’ again,” he said, his voice breaking.
“I have only one demand now, find my daughter’s body and bring it back. I just want to see her face one last time.”
According to Bristy’s father, she went missing shortly after receiving a phone call from a man identified as Hisham Saleh Abugharbieh. She went downstairs to speak with him and did not return.
Later, US law enforcement contacted the family through her brother and informed them that she had been killed. However, her body has not yet been recovered.
Her brother remains in regular contact with investigators, but authorities have not disclosed further details as the case remains under active investigation.
“I had many dreams for my daughter,” her father said. “She was very good in her studies. She went to the United States to fulfil her dreams. With her, I have lost my dreams as well.”
Bristy, a meritorious student, achieved GPA-5 (Golden A+) in both SSC and HSC, completing her schooling at Nahar Academy High School in Mirpur and Shaheed Bir Uttam Lt Anwar Girls’ College.
She later graduated in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering from Noakhali Science and Technology University and enrolled in postgraduate studies at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet).
Before completing her postgraduate degree, she secured a full scholarship to pursue a PhD at the University of South Florida (USF). She left Dhaka for the United States on August 12, last year.
Her family, originally from Madaripur, has lived in Mirpur-11 in Dhaka for over two decades.
Bristy’s cousin, Tuli Akon, said her family first learned about Bristy’s death through a Facebook post by her brother.
“She had been missing even before that. We still do not know how or why she was killed,” she said.
“We want justice. We cannot accept this death. We demand punishment for those responsible and the return of her body.”
Two Bangladeshi PhD students, Zamil Limon and Nahida Bristy, who got enrolled at the USF in the United States with dreams of a brighter future, are now tragically at the centre of a grim murder investigation.
Limon has been confirmed dead, while Bristy is believed to have been killed as well, according to investigators in Florida.
Limon’s roommate, Hisham Saleh Abugharbieh, a 26-year-old US citizen and former USF student who was arrested on Friday, has been charged with two counts of first-degree premeditated murder.