The mother-in-law of Twisha Sharma, the 33-year-old model who was found dead in her husband's home just five months after their marriage, has claimed that the victim's family manipulated WhatsApp chats to fabricate their narrative.
Giribala Singh, a judge who is facing dowry death charges in connection with the murder, has claimed that Sharma's family has been circulating manipulated WhatsApp texts to create hype around the death.
Singh has also alleged that the police failed to follow proper procedures while seizing DVRs connected to eight CCTV cameras.
In her petition, Giribala Singh stated that the firm that installed the CCTV cameras in her home had not regularly serviced it, resulting in a discrepancy of 2 days, 2 hours, and 20 minutes in the timestamps (date and time) of the footage. She said this technical glitch was confusing, and hence preservation and examination of electronic evidence was mandatory.
Singh's counsel alleged that the investigators failed to ask residents to identify individuals appearing in the CCTV footage, which was causing misreading of the footage.
She demanded that Twisha's family's mobile phones be confiscated and forensically examined. She alleged that the deceased woman's family was using the manipulated WhatsApp chats to fabricate their narrative.
Giribala Singh to lose her job?
The Madhya Pradesh police have issued the third and final notice to Giribala Singh to record her statement. The Madhya Pradesh government has also initiated an inquiry to determine whether Singh can continue as the chairperson of the consumer court, an official circular said.
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"The third and final notice (to record her statement) has been issued to her. If she doesn't cooperate, we will approach the sessions court to cancel her bail," Bhopal Police Commissioner Sanjay Kumar told reporters.
Police sources said she was served notices to record her statement via post and WhatsApp. Singh is reportedly not at her residence.
The Madhya Pradesh government has reportedly sought clarification from the state consumer disputes redressal commission on whether a person under investigation in such a case can continue to head a district consumer panel.
Meanwhile, Ankur Pandey, the lawyer representing Twisha Sharma's family, said that a petition has been filed before the principal bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court in Jabalpur, challenging the grant of anticipatory bail to Giribala Singh. A court in Bhopal has given anticipatory bail to Giribala Singh but rejected Samarth's bail application.