The Madhya Pradesh government has made shocking allegations in the dowry death case of Twisha Sharma, a former model-actor from Noida, who was found hanging at her marital residence in Bhopal's Katara Hills area on the night of May 12. Appearing before the Madhya Pradesh High Court, the government claimed that injuries found on Twisha's body were inflicted before her death.
While the HC was hearing the petitions seeking cancellation of Twisha's mother-in-law's anticipatory bail, the government alleged that both Giribala Singh and her son Samarth Singh subjected the deceased woman to cruelty over dowry and told her that the money spent by her family for the wedding was "not enough".
It went on to claim that the injuries on her wrist, elbow and head could have been caused during a "scuffle or struggle". The government also added that the injuries could not have occurred after Twisha's death or while her body was being taken down, as per the post-mortem.
The government accused Giribala of not cooperating with its probe even after notices were served on May 13 and 14.
Meanwhile, a Bhopal court on Wednesday sent Samarth to CBI custody two days after the agency took over the probe. It has re-registered a Madhya Pradesh police FIR against Giribala and Samarth under Sections 80(2) (punishment for dowry death), 85 (husband or his relative subjecting woman to cruelty) and 3(5) (common intention) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita along with relevant provisions of the Dowry Prohibition Act.
Advocate Ankush Pandey, lawyer of Twisha's family, says, "Earlier, the accused Samarth was arrested by the SIT. He was brought from Jabalpur to Bhopal and produced before the court. After being presented before the Magistrate, the SIT sought seven days of police remand, which was granted. Subsequently, the CBI registered an FIR in the same matter and named both individuals as accused. Since the custody and all related documents have now been handed over to the CBI, any further investigation in the case will be conducted by the CBI. Therefore, today's proceedings in the Magistrate Court were merely a formality, as the custody is no longer required by the SIT because the investigation has been transferred to the CBI. From this point onward, any further legal proceedings will take place in the concerned CBI court, and the CBI will continue the investigation."
On Sunday, a team of doctors from AIIMS-Delhi conducted a second postmortem of Twisha in Bhopal following directions from the Madhya Pradesh High Court, after her parents raised serious concerns about procedural lapses by local authorities.
