Probe launched into death of Bangladeshi worker
Ombudswoman Maria Stylianou Lottides has begun an independent investigation into the circumstances behind 24-year-old Anisur Rahman’s death, it emerged on Tuesday.
Rahman, a Bangladeshi national, fell to his death earlier this month after a police raid on the Limassol apartment he was living in, crammed with a total of 11 people.
He jumped off a fifth-floor balcony under circumstances still under investigation.
Lottides said her investigation will centre around whether police followed due procedures and if any human rights were violated.
Kisa NGO has filed a complaint to the independent authority investigating police officers challenging the official narrative from the force.
Police have reiterated it followed the rule of the law during the raid, claiming officers received consent before entering the flat.
The NGO however argued the door was broken down and five or six police officers barged in, handcuffing people as they woke from the fracas.
According to Lottides, the independent authority is now launching its own internal investigation into the matter, while the ombudswoman’s office will continue its own investigation in tandem.
She has already requested all necessary documents from the police chief.
The Bangladeshi nationals who are still detained have claimed abuse at police hands, which the force strongly denies.
Police however remain tight-lipped about the landlord who rented out the apartment in a dangerous listed building, for a reported €2,000.