Woman TV journalist's body recovered from lake in Dhaka

Dhaka: The body of a 32-year-old woman TV journalist in Bangladesh was recovered from a lake here in the capital on Wednesday, according to media reports.

The deceased was identified as Sarah Rahanuma, a newsroom editor at Gazi TV, a Bengali-language satellite and cable television channel owned by Gazi Group.

Her body was found floating in Hatirjheel Lake in Dhaka, The Dhaka Tribune newspaper reported.

Inspector Bachchu Mia, in charge of the Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) police outpost, confirmed the recovery of her body.

Pedestrians pulled the body from the lake and took it to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH), where the doctor declared her dead around 2:00 am.

A man named Sagar, who brought Sarah to the hospital, said: "I saw the woman floating in Hatirjheel Lake. Later, she was brought to DMCH, where doctors declared her dead.” Before her death, Sarah posted a status on her Facebook on Tuesday night tagging one Fahim Faysal.

"It was nice having a friend like you. God bless you always. Hope, you'll fulfil all your dreams soon. I know we had a lot of planning together. Sorry, can't fulfil our plans. May god bless you in every aspect of your life," she wrote.

In an earlier post, she wrote: "It is better to die than to live a life akin to death." Inspector Bachchu Mia said the body was kept in the DMCH morgue.

Police have stated that an investigation will be conducted to determine the cause of her death.

However, deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina's US-based son, Sajeeb Wazed, gave a political colour to the journalist's death, saying that it was "another brutal attack" on the freedom of expression in the country.

"Rahmuna Sara Gazi TV newsroom editor was found dead. Her body was recovered from Hatirjheel Lake in Dhaka city. This is another brutal attack on freedom of expression in Bangladesh. Gazi TV is a secular news channel owned by Golam Dastagir Gazi who was arrested recently," Wazed Joy posted on X.

On the day of the incident, Sarah went to work but did not return home that night, her husband, Somoy News quoted her husband Sayed Shuvro as saying.

Shuvro was informed around 3 am that she had jumped into the waters of Hatirjheel Lake.

Shuvro said that Sarah had been expressing a desire to separate from him for some time.

They had planned to visit a Kazi office to finalise their divorce, but due to the current situation in the country, they could not do it.

The circumstances surrounding Sarah's death look mysterious, the news channel said.