Twisha Sharma death: Abortion, substance abuse claims and absconding husband — What we know so far

More than a week after Noida woman Twisha Sharma was found hanging at her marital home in Bhopal following alleged harassment for dowry, several new facts have emerged in the case while several others remain unanswered.

Twisha's husband, advocate Samarth Singh, and her mother-in-law retired judge Giribala Singh have been booked for dowry death and harassment under Sections 80(2), 85, and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita along with relevant sections of the Dowry Prohibition Act, after the 33-year-old was found dead on the night of May 12.

Giribala Singh has given several statements to the media making claims such as Twisha being a "drug-addict". Let's take a look at the information that has emerged in the case so far.

Husband absconding

Twisha's husband Samarth Singh, who is an advocate by profession, is missing since the case came to the fore.

Police have announced a cash reward of Rs 10,000 for information leading to his arrest. Cops said they have also written to the passport office seeking suspension of his passport.

According to his LinkedIn profile, Samarth is an independent litigator, legal advisor and a graduate of National Law School of India University (NLSIU), Bengaluru.

Twisha took abortion pills: Mother-in-law

Twisha's mother-in-law, retired additional district judge Giribala Singh on Monday addressed and press conference and claimed that Twisha had informed her husband over phone that she took abortion pills.

"The first child is very important for any family, but she never allowed us even a moment of happiness. Samarth was in court when Twisha called him and told him that she had taken MTP pills. She took the pills on May 7," Giribala Singh said. She claimed that Twisha repeatedly insisted on not wanting a child.

Giribala has been granted anticipatory bail in the case by a Bhopal court.

Substance abuse claims

Giribala has also claimed that Twisha was a drug addict and suffered from mental illness.

After a local court rejected her son's bail plea, Giribala Singh addressed a press conference, alleging that Twisha was undergoing psychiatric counselling and taking medicines, generally prescribed to schizophrenia patients.

"She herself had admitted to consuming marijuana in large quantities. She repeatedly insisted that she did not want a child. Twisha was undergoing treatment under Dr Satyakant Trivedi. Medicines had been prescribed to her, but she did not take them," the mother-in-law said.

The bail application filed by Giribala Singh for her son alleged that Twisha was addicted to drugs and would become irritable and develop trembling hands when she did not have access to narcotic substances.

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

Lapses in probe?

A local court on Wednesday rejected the plea for a second autopsy in the case but directed the police to check if the facility to preserve her body for a longer period was available in Madhya Pradesh.

The body is currently kept in the mortuary at AIIMS Bhopal at -4 °C, but it needs to be kept at -80 °C for longer preservation and "there is no facility available anywhere in Bhopal for low-temperature preservation", the court noted.

Twisha's parents had moved the court seeking a second post-mortem examination of their daughter at AIIMS Delhi, alleging lapses in the investigation by police and expressing apprehension that a person related to her in-laws could have influenced the procedure conducted in Bhopal.

In their plea, Twisha's family claimed there were flaws in the investigation and pointed out, among other things, that the FIR was registered three days after she was found dead.

The investigators did not provide the "ligature" (the belt allegedly used in the hanging) when the first post-mortem examination was conducted at a hospital here, the plea said.

According to their lawyer Ankur Pandey, the parents apprehended that as Twisha's mother-in-law, retired additional district judge Giribala Singh's sister is a Bhopal-based surgeon, she could influence the second autopsy if it was conducted at a city hospital.

(With PTI inputs)