Writer Rabeya Khatun dies

Writer Rabeya Khatun, who won highest civilian awards Swadhinata Padak and Ekushey Padak for her works, has died. She was 85.She passed away at her home in Dhaka's Banani at 5pm on Sunday, said Channel-I, the private TV network where her son Faridur Reza Sagar is managing director, reports bdnews24.com. She had been suffering from heart disease.

Rabeya hails from Shologhar village in Munshiganj's Sreenagar. Born in Dhaka's Bikrampur on Dec 27, 1935 at his maternal uncle's home, she married film director ATM Fazlul Haque on Jul 23, 1952. Their other children are Keka Ferdousi, Feridur Reza Prabal and Farhana Kakoly.

Besides writing, Rabeya had worked as a teacher and a journalist. She was member of the Bangla Academy's council.She had worked as member of the Jatiya Grantha Kendro, National Film Awards jury board, and the council of the Shishu Academy.Rabeya received the Ekushey Padak in 1993 and the Swadhinata Padak in 2017 for her contribution to literature.President Md Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina have condoled the passing of Rabeya.