Dowry death case: Twisha Sharma's family moves HC for second autopsy

The family of actress-model Twisha Sharma has filed a plea in the Madhya Pradesh High Court seeking a second post-mortem, citing flaws in the first one conducted by AIIMS Bhopal.

The family of actress-model Twisha Sharma, who allegedly suffered dowry harassment and died last week, filed a plea in the Madhya Pradesh High Court on Friday seeking a second post-mortem, citing flaws in the first one conducted by AIIMS Bhopal.

The family's appeal to the high court comes two days after a lower court turned down their plea.

Twisha was found dead on the night of May 12 at her marital home in Bhopal's Katara Hills area, prompting a dowry death and harassment case against her husband, advocate Samarth Singh, and mother-in-law, retired judge Giribala Singh.

Police have announced a cash reward of Rs 30,000 for information leading to the arrest of Samarth Singh, who has been absconding since the incident.

Talking to PTI, Sharma's lawyer Anurag Shrivastava said the family has moved the HC for a second post-mortem, citing discrepancies in the first autopsy conducted at AIIMS Bhopal.

The case is likely to be taken up for hearing later in the day, he added.

Two days ago, Judicial Magistrate First Class Anudita Gupta in Bhopal rejected the family's plea, stating that the conscience of the court must be satisfied to order a re-postmortem.

Minor infractions of procedure will not impel the court to order a second autopsy, the magistrate had noted.

The lower court also observed that the body is currently kept in the AIIMS Bhopal mortuary at -4°C, but requires -80°C for longer preservation, a facility unavailable anywhere in the city.