Bhopal dowry death: Twisha Sharma’s family alleges 'character assassination’, rejects drug use claims

Bhopal: The parents of model and actress Twisha Sharma, an alleged dowry harassment victim, on Tuesday rejected her mother-in-law's allegations that she was a drug addict and suffered from mental illness.

Rejecting retired judge Giribala Singh's claims as "character assassination", the Noida-based family demanded answers from the accused about Twisha's death at her marital home.

Twisha was found hanging at her marital home in Bhopal's Katara Hills area on May 12, just months after her December 2025 marriage to Samarth, whom she met on a dating app in 2024.

A local court on Monday rejected the anticipatory bail plea of Twisha's absconding lawyer-husband, Samarth Singh, following which Bhopal police announced a reward of Rs 10,000 for information leading to his arrest.

Following the court order, Giribala Singh addressed a press conference, alleging that Twisha was undergoing psychiatric counselling and taking medicines, generally prescribed to schizophrenia patients.

Talking to PTI Videos, Twisha's father, Navnidhi Sharma, said, "Because the girl is dead now, they think they can say anything against her and shift the blame."

The accused must prove their allegations in court, he added.

Navnidhi Sharma said that publicly defaming a deceased woman is a serious offence, and is especially "shameful" coming from a person who held a high judicial office.

Describing his daughter as a dynamic, career-oriented, and highly educated woman, he hit back at the schizophrenia claims.

"If my daughter had been schizophrenic, then what should be said about Giribala Singh, who killed such a good daughter in her own house?"

Twisha's mother, Rekha Sharma, denied allegations that the family was financially dependent on her, or that Giribala Singh had given nearly Rs 8 lakh to their daughter over the last five months and that Rs 5 lakh from this was transferred to their son.

"We never had any shortage of money. The only issue was that her in-laws were trying to sabotage her career," she alleged, slamming claims that they had pushed Twisha into the glamour industry too young and abandoned her.

The Special Investigation Team (SIT), probing into the alleged dowry death, is currently scanning CCTV footage, call logs, and digital footprints to locate Twisha's absconding husband.

Meanwhile, alleging a biased local probe, Twisha's grieving family has demanded that the investigation be transferred outside of Madhya Pradesh.