BHOPAL: A local court on Saturday remanded Samarth Singh, husband of former actor-model Twisha Sharma and an accused in her alleged dowry death case, in police custody for seven days, while his mother and co-accused Giribala Singh said the police were yet to contact her for recording her statement in the high-profile case.
A four-member team of doctors from AIIMS Delhi was slated to fly to Bhopal in the evening to conduct a second autopsy of Twisha Sharma following the Madhya Pradesh High Court's order.
Samarth Singh, who had been absconding for ten days after an FIR was registered against him and his mother following Twisha's death by hanging, was arrested on Friday evening after he reached the Jabalpur district court premises to surrender. He had withdrawn his pre-arrest bail petition filed in the Madhya Pradesh High Court earlier.
He was taken to Bhopal in the wee hours of Saturday and produced before Judicial Magistrate First Class Anudita Gupta who sent him in police custody for seven days. His lawyer also handed over his passport to the court.
Twisha Sharma, 33, was found hanging at her matrimonial home in Bhopal's Katara Hills area on May 12, following which an FIR was registered against her husband Samarth Singh who is a lawyer, and her mother-in-law and former district judge Giribala Singh for alleged harassment for dowry.
Giribala Singh, who is currently the chairperson of the Bhopal District Consumer Court, on Saturday said she would be happy to record her statement, but Bhopal Police had not reached out to her so far.
She could not step out of her house owing to the chaotic situation outside, she said, apparently referring to the presence of mediapersons.
A day earlier, the High Court issued a notice to her on pleas seeking cancellation of her anticipatory bail, and sought her response by May 25. Two days ago, Bhopal Police had issued a third and final notice to her after she allegedly failed to appear for recording her statement.
The High Court on Friday also ordered a second autopsy for Twisha by a specialised team from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi, in response to a petition filed by her parents.
Accordingly, AIIMS Delhi constituted a medical board comprising four senior doctors to conduct a second autopsy. Chief of Forensic Medicine at AIIMS Delhi, Dr Sudhir Gupta, who set up the board, said it would fly to Bhopal by a state chartered plane at 6 pm.