Twisha Sharma death case: Bhopal court orders preservation of body; rejects plea for second autopsy

In a development favourable to Twisha Sharma’s family, a Bhopal court on Wednesday directed authorities to preserve the body of Twisha Sharma, a Noida woman who was allegedly harassed for dowry before being found dead at her in-laws’ residence last week.

Judicial Magistrate First Class Anudita Gupta instructed the police to urgently identify facilities in Madhya Pradesh capable of preserving the body at extremely low temperatures and place the details before the court.

While the detailed order is still awaited, the court however, refused her family’s request for a second post-mortem examination.

The direction came even as police earlier asked the family to take custody of the body, citing the risk of decomposition.

A day earlier, the court had sought the case diary while hearing an application filed by Sharma’s parents seeking preservation of the body and a fresh post-mortem examination outside Madhya Pradesh.

In their petition, the family alleged serious irregularities in the probe, including the delay of three days in registering the FIR after Sharma’s death. They also claimed investigators failed to provide the alleged ligature, said to be a belt used in the hanging, during the first autopsy.

Twisha Sharma, 33, was found hanging at her matrimonial home in Bhopal’s Katara Hills locality on the night of May 12. Her body has remained at the AIIMS Bhopal mortuary since an autopsy was conducted the following day.

The family had requested that a second autopsy be carried out at AIIMS Delhi. Their lawyer, Ankur Pandey, argued that a fair examination in Bhopal may not be possible as the sister of Sharma’s mother-in-law, retired additional district judge Giribala Singh, is a surgeon based in the city, reported PTI.

Pandey further alleged that the surgeon was spotted near AIIMS Bhopal during the first post-mortem examination.

Police informed the court that AIIMS Bhopal had stated long-term preservation of the body would require storage at minus 80 degrees Celsius, a facility unavailable at the institute.

Following Sharma’s death, police booked her husband, advocate Samarth Singh, and mother-in-law Giribala Singh on charges of dowry death and harassment.

A reward of Rs 10,000 has also been announced for information leading to the arrest of Samarth Singh, who is currently absconding.

(With PTI inputs)