Raudha Athif, a 21-year-old Maldivian model who gained fame by gracing the cover of Vogue India, was found by her friends hanging from a ceiling fan in her dorm room on Wednesday (March 29).
Officials say that Athif, who was a second-year student at Islami Bank Medical College in Bangladesh, is believe to have committed suicide. A friend of the deceased’s cut the scarf from which the model was hanging from and took Athif down. Shah Makhdum Police Station officer Zillur Rahman reported that her friends initially believed she was still alive.
According to the New York Post, “Mahmuda Begum, superintendent of Athif’s female hostel, told the Daily Star that Athif “always looked happy” and “it is hard to believe she would commit suicide.””
Athif’s Vogue India cover was on newsstands in October 2016, where she and several other models posed for a “Beauty In Diversity” shoot. She gained notoriety in 2014, after being photographed emerging from the ocean for a photo titled ‘Maldivian Girl With Aqua Blue Eyes,’ shot by photographer Sotti.
However, her dream was always to be a doctor. “Modelling is a hobby rather than a career for me,” she said in a Q&A for the “Beauty In Diversity” shoot. “Becoming a doctor to help people has always been my dream.”
21 year-old Vogue model Raudha Athif, thought to have died by suicide at a hostel in Bangladesh https://t.co/eKF8Kdde3T pic.twitter.com/LD3CPyafvf
— The Telegraph (@Telegraph) March 31, 2017