Former judge Giribala Singh, booked for the death of her daughter-in-law Twisha Sharma, said on Saturday that she would be happy to record her statement but that Bhopal police have not reached out to her, a claim the cops seemed to contradict.
"I cannot venture out of my home. Yesterday (Friday), a car hit my advocate. I cannot step out at all due to the situation outside. I will be happy to give my statement," the chairperson of the Bhopal District Consumer Court told PTI over the phone, referring to the crowd of media persons outside her residence.
"I have been reaching out to them (police). I have sent an email to the commissioner of police," the ex-judge said, adding that they (police) have not reached out to her.
However. Bhopal police commissioner Sanjay Kumar said in a press meet that Singh had been issued a third and final notice after she failed to appear for the recording of her statement.
“We are trying to interrogate Giribala Singh as soon as possible. We have sent her three notices so far," Sanjay Kumar told PTI.
On Friday, the Madhya Pradesh High Court issued notice to Singh on pleas seeking cancellation of her anticipatory bail in the case and sought her response by May 25.
Bhopal court on Saturday sent Twisha's husband and Singh's son, Samarth Singh, to seven-day police remand in the alleged dowry death case.
A day earlier, Samarth, who is a lawyer, had withdrawn his anticipatory bail application filed in the high court and appeared at the Jabalpur district court in the evening to surrender. A team of Bhopal police took him into custody and left for the state capital.
Counsel of Samarth Singh and his mother Giribala Singh, advocate Gyanendra, said, “The police sought seven days of remand. We had opposed it because there was nothing to be recovered from him, but if the police still wanted remand, we had no issue with that.
“As far as questioning during the remand is concerned, I do not think there is any problem with that. We have faith in the police and faith in the law. Everything will proceed according to the legal process. We will move forward with the bail application after the remand period, first before the Sessions Court and then, if required, before the High Court or Supreme Court.”
Twisha’s advocate, Ankur Pandey, said the prosecution argued that custodial interrogation was essential as the accused had remained absconding since the beginning of the case and further questioning was needed to uncover the truth.
“Since there was a possibility that he could flee, the police had also initiated proceedings regarding the cancellation of his passport, and today his lawyer stated that they were ready to surrender it. Now the investigation will focus on collecting evidence, questioning him about what happened inside the house, and recreating the crime scene if required,” he told reporters.
“We had already raised concerns about the police investigation and pointed out lapses to the chief minister,” he added. “We want the CBI to take over the investigation as soon as possible and examine everyone involved, including any officials who may have provided protection to him while he was absconding.”
Twisha’s cousin Ashish Sharma said the family is urging that the chief minister’s recommendation to the Centre for a CBI investigation be implemented without delay.
“The CBI should be handed charge of the entire investigation without delay because the police have done so much whitewashing in this case that it is now impossible to trust them. We hope that the re-postmortem is conducted fairly and speedily.”
Twisha Sharma, a 33-year-old model-turned-actor from Noida, was found hanging at her marital home in Bhopal's Katara Hills area on May 12. While her in-laws allege she had a drug addiction, her family maintains she was harassed for dowry, leading to her death.
Following Twisha's death, Bhopal police registered an FIR under Sections 80(2) (dowry death), 85 (husband or relatives of the husband subjecting married woman to cruelty) and 3(5) (common intention) of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita, along with relevant provisions of the Dowry Prohibition Act against Samarth Singh and his mother.
AIIMS Delhi doctors fly to Bhopal for second postmortem
AIIMS Delhi has constituted a medical board comprising four senior doctors, who will fly to Bhopal on Saturday evening by a state chartered plane, to conduct a second autopsy of Twisha's body following the Madhya Pradesh High Court's order in the alleged dowry death case.
Chief of Forensic Medicine at AIIMS Delhi, Dr Sudhir Gupta, said the court order authorised the director of AIIMS Delhi to constitute the medical board.
The hospital received the order and request from Madhya Pradesh government officials to conduct the postmortem on Sunday morning.
Dr Gupta constituted the medical board comprising four senior doctors from AIIMS Delhi with the approval of the director.
"The team, along with the latest instruments, will fly by a state chartered plane at 6 pm today," Dr Gupta said.
The body of the 33-year-old actor-model is currently kept at the mortuary of AIIMS Bhopal, he said.
Hearing a petition filed by Twisha's family, a single bench of the High Court on Friday asked the state government to make immediate arrangements for flying a specialised team of doctors from All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi, to Bhopal for the second autopsy, advocate Akur Pandey, the family's lawyer, had told PTI.