Bhopal dowry death: In son's bail plea, ex-judge claims daughter-in-law Twisha Sharma was 'drug addict'

Bhopal: The alleged dowry death case of a 33-year-old woman took a dramatic turn on Monday after the contents of the bail application filed for her lawyer husband surfaced on social media, claiming that she was "a drug addict undergoing psychiatric treatment".

A local court, which earlier granted anticipatory bail to the victim's mother-in-law, retired judge Giribala Singh, reserved its order on Monday regarding the bail plea of her absconding husband, Samarth Singh.

Twisha, who met Samarth Singh through a dating app in 2024 and married him in December 2025, was found hanging at her marital home in the Katara Hills area on May 12.

While her family claims she was murdered due to relentless dowry harassment, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been formed to probe the allegations.

Misrod Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Rajneesh Kashyap, who is heading the SIT, stated that efforts are underway to trace Samarth Singh.

Kashyap said the preliminary post-mortem report received from AIIMS Bhopal indicated death due to "hanging suicide".

He said action would be taken against the investigating officer if negligence was found in not sending the rope allegedly used in the hanging to AIIMS during the post-mortem examination.

Talking to PTI, Kashyap said, "In the bail petition, allegations regarding Twisha being a drug addict have been mentioned, but we are strictly investigating the case according to the sections in the FIR." The bail application filed by Giribala Singh for her son before a district court alleged that Twisha was addicted to drugs and would become irritable and develop trembling hands when she did not have access to narcotic substances.

It also claimed that Twisha had been undergoing psychiatric treatment and counselling.

The application stated Twisha had travelled to Delhi by flight on April 17 and remained untraceable for around 12 hours before reaching her parent's house the next day.

The plea also claimed that her behaviour towards her in-laws changed after she became pregnant and stated that her husband had taken her to a beauty salon on the day of the incident.

According to the application, Twisha had also suffered a miscarriage.

The retired judge denied allegations of dowry harassment in the bail plea, claiming that Twisha was regularly given money online for her needs.

The application reportedly included transaction receipts ranging from Rs 5,000 to Rs 50,000 as supporting documents.

According to officials, the SIT will investigate allegations related to dowry harassment, physical assault and alleged attempts to destroy evidence after Sharma's death.

On Sunday, the victim, Twisha Sharma's grief-stricken family staged a protest outside Chief Minister Mohan Yadav's residence, demanding a fresh post-mortem at AIIMS Delhi.

Her father, Navnidhi Sharma, alleged that the local investigation is deeply compromised and pointed out that his daughter's body has been kept in the AIIMS Bhopal mortuary for five days because the family wants a second autopsy to be conducted at AIIMS Delhi.

According to the victim's relatives, she wanted to leave Bhopal and return to Noida and had remained in touch with them till around 10 pm on the day of the incident.