In a major win for the family of Twisha Sharma, the Madhya Pradesh High Court on Friday ordered a second postmortem on her body.
This comes just days after a Bhopal court had rejected her family's plea for a second postmortem at AIIMS Delhi over alleged irregularities in the first autopsy at AIIMS Bhopal, as the case is all set to be handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
While rejecting the May 19 plea, the Bhopal court had also flagged issues with the preservation of Sharma's body.
The 31-year-old had been found—on May 12—hanging from the terrace of her matrimonial home in Bhopal. On May 13, her body was moved to the AIIMS Bhopal mortuary, where it has since remained.
Notably, the police had earlier informed Sharma's family that her body was being preserved at -4ºC, while doctors had advised that it be kept at -80ºC for long-term preservation—a feature currently not available at AIIMS Bhopal.
The Bhopal court had also demanded a report outlining whether any higher medical institution in Madhya Pradesh had this preservation facility.
This also comes as Samarth Singh—her husband of five months who has been absconding since her death—is considering a surrender, with his counsel submitting in court that Singh wanted to withdraw his anticipatory bail plea and surrender before a trial court.
The defence also requested that the High Court order the trial court to hear and decide Samarth Singh’s bail plea on the very same day of his surrender.
However, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta—representing the Madhya Pradesh government—strongly opposed the move, telling the court that Samarth Singh had been absconding, and that he should surrender directly before the investigating officer, rather than going to a trial court to do so.
“(Samarth Singh) wants to surrender, I have no difficulty. But he has no locus standi to address the court on the second postmortem issue, which is solely between the victim’s family, the court and the state,” Mehta added, as per a Live Law report.
