Daijiworld Media Network - Bhopal
Bhopal, May 22: The Madhya Pradesh High Court on Friday ordered a second post-mortem of Twisha Sharma to be conducted by a team of doctors from All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi, amid deepening investigations into her death.
The court directed that the autopsy would be conducted in Bhopal itself, while the AIIMS doctors would be flown to the city on a special flight. It also ordered that the entire procedure be videographed and completed at the earliest.
The development came after Twisha’s family approached the High Court challenging a lower court order that had rejected their plea for a second post-mortem. Judicial Magistrate First Class Anudita Gupta had earlier observed that minor procedural lapses did not justify ordering another autopsy.
The lower court had also noted that Twisha’s body was being preserved at AIIMS Bhopal mortuary at minus 4 degrees Celsius, while long-term preservation ideally required temperatures of minus 80 degrees Celsius, facilities that were unavailable locally.
Meanwhile, Twisha’s husband Samarth Singh, who had been absconding for 10 days since her death, appeared before a district court in Jabalpur on Friday to surrender.
His lawyer Mringendra Singh informed the High Court that Samarth was prepared to surrender if his bail plea was heard immediately by the local court. The lawyer also said the anticipatory bail plea would be withdrawn upon surrender.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta reportedly opposed the plea initially, but the court observed that there should be no objection to the surrender.
The court further noted that Samarth had no objection to a second post-mortem. During the proceedings, Tushar Mehta submitted that a fresh autopsy would help strengthen the confidence of all parties and should not be interpreted as questioning the earlier post-mortem report or the competence of the doctors who conducted it.
Twisha’s family has accused her in-laws of forcing her to death. However, her mother-in-law Giribala Singh, a retired district and sessions judge and current chairperson of the Bhopal Consumer Court, denied the allegations and claimed that Twisha was addicted to drugs.
Giribala Singh was granted anticipatory bail last week after being named in the FIR registered in the case.
As the probe intensified, the Madhya Pradesh government formally recommended a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The state home department also issued a notification proposing transfer of the investigation into the alleged dowry death case registered at Katara Hills Police Station under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Dowry Prohibition Act.
Thirty-three-year-old Twisha, originally from Noida, was found dead at her in-laws’ residence in Bhopal on May 12. While her family alleges harassment and dowry-related abuse, the in-laws have denied the allegations.
Twisha’s cousin Ashish Sharma said the family was prepared for a prolonged legal battle to secure justice.