A team of doctors from AIIMS Delhi started performing a second autopsy of former-model-turned-actor Twisha Sharma at their facility in Bhopal on Sunday, family sources said.
Twisha’s family also said her last rites would be held on Sunday evening, and appealed to the people of Bhopal, including women and social workers, to join her funeral procession.
The family has requested the medical team conducting the second autopsy to adopt a multidisciplinary forensic, pathological and radiological approach and independently examine concerns they claimed were not adequately addressed during the first post-mortem conducted in Bhopal.
Twisha (33) was found hanging at her matrimonial home in Bhopal’s Katara Hills area on May 12, with her family accusing her in-laws of dowry harassment and abetment to suicide. Her in-laws, however, claimed she suffered from drug addiction.
Acting on a May 22 order from the Madhya Pradesh High Court, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi, constituted a four-member team of senior doctors to conduct a second autopsy. The medical team arrived here on Saturday night.
The team has started the second autopsy, Twisha’s family members said.
Soon after the autopsy began, Twisha’s father, Navnidhi Sharma, told PTI that her last rites would be performed at Bhadbhada Vishram Ghat in Bhopal at 5 pm on Sunday.
“Today, we are going to bid farewell to a daughter, a sister, a friend and an innocent life. The daughter who had begun a new phase of life with dreams has left us all untimely. The vacant eyes of parents, shattered dreams and every passing moment spent waiting for justice raise a silent question before society,” he said.
Twisha’s father appealed to the residents of Bhopal, social workers, mothers, sisters and youth to join her funeral procession.
“Please join us, pray for the peace of her soul and stand with the grieving family,” he said.
“Today, when Twisha merges with the five elements, it will not be just one family that mourns, but every heart that believes in the safety, dignity and justice for daughters will feel the pain,” he added.
Earlier, a senior AIIMS Bhopal doctor, requesting anonymity, told PTI that the autopsy would be conducted strictly in accordance with the high court’s directions. He declined to disclose the timing of the examination.
On Saturday, Twisha’s father submitted a detailed representation along with a copy of the high court order to the medical board, raising several concerns regarding the first autopsy.
Among the concerns raised were alleged blunt force injuries on Twisha’s left arm and forearm, lack of detailed dissection to determine the depth and age of injuries, and absence of radiological examination of the neck and cervical structures.
The family also sought a correlation between the alleged ligature material and injuries recorded on the neck and requested a toxicological evaluation of preserved viscera samples.
The representation also urged to examine whether findings relating to the face, eyes and lungs were consistent with hanging, strangulation, suffocation or any other possible cause of death.
The police have registered an FIR against Twisha’s husband, Samarth Singh, who is a lawyer, and her mother-in-law and former district judge Giribala Singh on charges of harassment for dowry.
Samarth Singh was arrested in Jabalpur on Friday after remaining absconding for 10 days. A Bhopal court on Saturday sent him to a seven-day police remand.
