Florida university to confer posthumous PhDs to slain Bangladeshi students Limon, Bristy

The University of South Florida (USF) has decided to award posthumous doctoral degrees to two Bangladeshi PhD students, Zamil Ahmed Limon and Nahida Sultana Bristy, who were recently murdered in Tampa, Florida.

The degrees will be conferred during the university’s spring convocation on 9 May.

Golam Mortoza, press minister at the Bangladesh Embassy in the US, confirmed through a Facebook update that the USF authorities formally notified the Bangladesh Consulate in Miami of the decision yesterday (5 May).

The university has requested a consulate representative to attend the ceremony to accept the honours on behalf of the bereaved families. A representative from the Miami consulate is scheduled to be present at the convocation for the handover, according to Golam Mortoza.

In a separate development, the repatriation of Nahida Sultana Bristy’s remains is underway.

Her body is scheduled to arrive at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka at 8:40am on 9 May. Following her formal identification by the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office on 1 May, the Bangladesh consulate sought her family’s consent to release the body from the medical examiner.

Bristy’s first namaz-e-janaza is scheduled to be held in Tampa, Florida at 2pm today (6 May).

Her body will then be flown from Orlando International Airport tomorrow at 8:50pm local time on Emirates flight EK-0220 to Dubai, followed by flight EK-0582 to Dhaka.

The Bangladesh Consulate in Miami and the Embassy in Washington, DC, are coordinating the process in consultation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the press minister added.

Meanwhile, the body of the other victim, Zamil Ahmed Limon, arrived in Dhaka two days ago.

State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shama Obaed Islam received the remains and handed them over to Limon’s family with assistance from the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment.

Limon’s funeral prayers had previously been held on 30 April at the Islamic Society of Tampa Bay Area Mosque before his remains were flown out of Orlando on 2 May.

Additionally, Hisham Abugharbieh, a US citizen, has been named accused in the deaths of Zamil Limon and Nahida Bristy, says the South China Morning Post.

The 26-year-old former USF student has been charged with two counts of premeditated first-degree murder in connection with the deaths of his roommate and the roommate’s girlfriend, authorities said.

Abugharbieh was taken into custody after authorities responded to a domestic violence report at his family’s home in North Tampa. Officials said relatives were moved to safety before Abugharbieh barricaded himself inside the residence and refused to exit. He was later apprehended.

In addition to two counts of murder with a weapon, Abugharbieh faces several other charges, including unlawfully moving a dead body, tampering with evidence, false imprisonment, battery and failure to report a death.

During an initial court appearance in Tampa on 25 April, Abugharbieh was ordered held without bond. A follow-up hearing was scheduled for 28 April. Online court records did not list a lawyer for the defendant at the time of reporting.