Bhopal court orders preservation of Twisha Sharma’s body; rejects plea for 2nd autopsy

Police registered an FIR, charging her husband, advocate Samarth Singh, and her mother-in-law Giribala Singh, with dowry death and harassment.Police have announced a cash reward of Rs 10,000 for information leading to the arrest of the husband, who has been absconding.

A local court on Wednesday directed that the body of Noida woman Twisha Sharma, who was found hanging at her marital home here last week following alleged harassment for dowry, be preserved, but rejected her family's plea for a second autopsy.

Judicial Magistrate First Class Anudita Gupta said a letter be issued to police directing them to immediately obtain information regarding ''low-temperture preservation facility'' in Madhya Pradesh, and submit a report to the court without delay.

Earlier in the day, the city police urged the woman's family to take custody of her body as it could begin decomposing.

Twisha Sharma (33), daughter-in-law of a retired judge, was found hanging at her marital home here. On Tuesday, the court had called for the case diary before deciding on her parents' application that her body be preserved and a second postmortem examination be conducted outside the state.

In their plea, Twisha's family pointed out 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.

The family sought a second post-mortem examination at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Delhi, according to their lawyer Ankur Pandey.

They apprehended that as her 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, he said.

The surgeon was seen near AIIMS Bhopal when Twisha's first post-mortem examination took place, Pandey claimed.

Twisha's body has been kept in the mortuary of the AIIMS Bhopal since the first autopsy was conducted on May 13.

Citing a communication from AIIMS, the police told the family that preservation of the body for a longer period required storage at minus 80 degrees Celsius, a facility not available at AIIMS Bhopal.

Twisha Sharma was found dead on the night of May 12 at her marital home in Bhopal's Katara Hills area. Police registered an FIR, charging her husband, advocate Samarth Singh, and her mother-in-law Giribala Singh, with dowry death and harassment.

Police have announced a cash reward of Rs 10,000 for information leading to the arrest of the husband, who has been absconding.