Dowry death: Bhopal court rejects plea for 2nd autopsy of Twisha Sharma

A local court in India rejected a plea for a second autopsy of Twisha Sharma, citing minor infractions in the initial procedure, but ordered police to check for preservation facilities.

A local court on Wednesday rejected the plea for a second autopsy of Noida woman Twisha Sharma, who was found hanging at her marital home here following alleged harassment for dowry, but directed the police to check if the facility to preserve her body for a longer period was available in Madhya Pradesh.

Twisha's parents had moved the court seeking a second post-mortem examination of their daughter, who died on May 12, 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 her order, Judicial Magistrate First Class Anudita Gupta said the conscience of the court must be satisfied that there is a need for a second postmortem for the purpose of arriving at the truth. ''Minor infractions of procedure will not impel the court to order re-postmortem,'' she said.

The investigation and the process of collecting evidence was ongoing, the court noted, adding that the first post-mortem examination was conducted at ''a prestigious medical institution AIIMS Bhopal''.

''There is is nothing on record which indicates any collusive or suspicious relationship of accused persons & the medical team of AIIMS Bhopal who conducted the post-mortem. Videography of first post-mortem was done. Case is not triable by this court,'' the magistrate said.

The court also said that it can not order a post-mortem examination outside its jurisdiction.

''The applicant is praying for a second post-mortem at AIIMS Delhi through the station House officer (SHO) Katara Hills, Bhopal which is prima facia appears to be outside the jurisdiction of this court,'' the judge said.

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.

''Therefore...a letter be issued to the Station House Officer (SHO), Police Station Katara Hills, directing them to immediately obtain written information from medical institutions as to whether low-temperature preservation facility is available in other higher medical institutions of Madhya Pradesh and medical institutions of other metropolitan cities of Madhya Pradesh and to submit a written report to this Court without any delay,'' the judge said.

She also ordered that the case diary be returned to police.

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

On Tuesday, the court had called for the case diary before deciding on her parents' application for a second postmortem examination.

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.

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.