The Madhya Pradesh High Court on Friday ordered a second autopsy to be conducted by a specialist team from AIIMS Delhi in the Twisha Sharma ‘dowry’ death case, along with several other observations in the matter.
The woman in her 30s, originally from Noida in Uttar Pradesh, was found dead on May 12 at her marital home in Bagh-Mughalia area of Bhopal. However, her family claimed foul play and pointed to signs of injury on her body. They claimed that she told them that her husband had assaulted her.
Key observations of Supreme Court member in Twisha Sharma death case
- A single bench of the Supreme Court directed the state government to make immediate arrangements to airlift a specialized group of doctors from Delhi’s AIIMS to Bhopal for a second post-mortem examination.
- The order came two days after Judicial Magistrate Anodita Gupta in Bhopal rejected the family’s request to conduct another autopsy and said the investigation conducted so far did not justify such a step.
- Samarth Singh, Twisha’s husband, arrived at the Jabalpur District Court on Friday evening to surrender himself after withdrawing his anticipatory bail application before the Supreme Court.
- After withdrawing the request, Singh had no choice but to surrender. The court said he could do so either before the investigating officer or before the court of first instance.
- The court also issued notice to his mother and former judge Giripala Singh, who has also been named as an accused in the case along with Samarth. The notice was issued on the basis of petitions filed by Twisha’s father and the state government seeking cancellation of her anticipatory bail.
Twisha Sharma death case
Twisha Sharma, 33, was found hanged at her marital home in Katara Hills area of Bhopal on May 12. Her family accused her in-laws of dowry harassment and abetment to suicide, while Singh’s family claimed that she was addicted to drugs.
The police registered an FIR under Sections 80(2), 85 and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with relevant provisions of the Dowry Prohibition Act, against Samarth Singh and his mother.
The police had previously announced a cash reward $30 lakhs for information leading to Samarth’s arrest. They also applied to the court to cancel his passport.
The Madhya Pradesh government has recommended a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the Twisha Sharma death case, and has given approval to the agency to take up the probe.
With input from agencies
