The body of Nahida Sultana Bristy, one of two Bangladeshi PhD students brutally murdered in Florida, United States, has finally been repatriated to Bangladesh.

The flight carrying her remains landed at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka at 9:10 AM on Saturday. Her parents, relatives, and friends were present at the airport to receive her.

Bangladesh's Foreign Secretary Asad Alam Siam was present at the airport to receive the body on behalf of the government and expressed deep condolences to Bristy's bereaved family.

The foreign secretary said the Bangladesh Embassy in Washington, DC, and the Consulate General in Miami are working tirelessly to ensure a proper and fair investigation and trial of this brutal murder case.

"We are in constant communication with US authorities," he said. "We are hopeful that Bristy's family will receive justice."

Meanwhile, the news of Bristy's body returning home has brought deep grief to Char Gobindapur Village in Khoajpur Union of the district's Sadar Upazila.

Since morning, relatives, friends, and locals have been gathering at her ancestral home to catch a final glimpse of her. Preparations for her burial are also underway.

According to family sources, Bristy's funeral prayers (Janaza) will be held after Asr prayers today at the Char Gobindapur High School ground, following which she will be laid to rest at the family graveyard.

After completing her undergraduate degree in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering from Noakhali University of Science and Technology, Bristy enrolled in a postgraduate programme at the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET).

She later earned a fully funded scholarship to pursue a PhD at the University of South Florida in the United States and departed for America on August 25, 2025.

Earlier, the Consulate General of Bangladesh in Miami informed that Brishti’s body was dispatched from Orlando International Airport in Florida on Thursday evening for Bangladesh via Dubai.

Following confirmation of the identification of Brishti’s body by the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office on May 1, the Embassy of Bangladesh in Washington, D.C., and the Consulate General in Miami worked in close coordination with the victim’s family, university authorities, local Bangladeshi expatriates in Tampa, and the relevant law enforcement agencies to complete all local legal procedures in the shortest possible time.

Earlier, the funeral prayer of Brishti was held on Wednesday after Zuhr prayers at the Islamic Society of Tampa Bay Area mosque.

Students of the University of South Florida, officials of the Bangladesh Consulate General in Miami, media representatives, and members of the Bangladeshi community attended the janaza prayer.

Jamil Ahmed Limon and Nahida Sultana Bristy, both 27, were last seen on April 16 and reported missing in the following days. Authorities later recovered Limon’s body from the Howard Frankland Bridge area in Tampa. Days later, human remains found in nearby mangroves were identified as Bristy.

A 26-year-old suspect, Hisham Abugharbieh, has been charged with two counts of premeditated murder and is being held without bond, according to investigators.

The killings have deeply affected Bangladeshi expatriate communities and academic circles in the United States and beyond.

Limon was laid to rest earlier this week in his native village in the Madarganj upazila of Jamalpur district after his body was repatriated to Bangladesh.

Meanwhile, the University of South Florida (USF) posthumously awarded PhD degrees to the two slain Bangladeshi students on Friday in honor of their academic contributions and sacrifice. 

(Updated with the foreign secretary's comments)