Due Process
Every dowry death shocks the conscience. What is more troubling is how often such cases are explained away before the facts have been fully examined.
The Twisha Sharma death case witnessed another dramatic turn on Tuesday after Giribala Singh, the retired judge and mother-in-law of the deceased, publicly rejected allegations against her family and demanded a deeper investigation into chats, financial transactions, call records, and a Volkswagen car key allegedly recovered from Twisha’s belongings.
Speaking to IANS, Singh claimed that several facts linked to the case were being interpreted incorrectly, even as the Special Investigation Team (SIT) continues its probe into the circumstances surrounding Twisha’s death. The case has triggered widespread attention in Madhya Pradesh, with police already naming Twisha’s husband, Samarth Singh, and Giribala Singh in an FIR.
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“The daughter who was in our house, our daughter-in-law, whom we treated with great respect. We tried till the very last moment to save her life and keep her with us. But the way things are being misconstrued is completely wrong,” Singh told IANS.
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She said CCTV footage installed at the house could help establish the sequence of events leading up to the incident.
“It is a good thing that there are CCTV cameras in the house. Until we saw it ourselves, we had no access to that area because it was on the terrace,” she said.
Questions raised over chats, pregnancy claims
Responding to allegations linked to Twisha’s pregnancy and chats allegedly recovered during the investigation, Giribala Singh questioned both the context and authenticity of the messages being cited.
“After marriage, a baby is the result of a relationship between a husband and wife, isn’t it? So how can it be otherwise? If something like this is being written in chat, then if someone wants to terminate a pregnancy, both sides should be consulted,” she said.
She further claimed that Twisha had made statements at the hospital regarding drug consumption.
“She said in the hospital in front of me that she had consumed a lot of marijuana, and that is why she did not want to keep the child. Here, she is telling her parents something different in chat. If allegations are being made against Samarth, then how can her statements be considered true?” Singh said.
The retired judge also made remarks about Twisha’s behaviour after marriage, alleging that the family’s expectations did not match reality.
“She didn’t say it exactly like that, but what she said was, ‘I am not the person you think I am’. We thought that if a traditional, well-mannered girl comes, it would be good for the house, the puja and rituals would be properly observed,” Singh alleged.
“She would wear whatever she wanted, and no one was allowed to stop her. At first, she appeared very proper and cultured, but later her true nature came out,” she added.
SIT probe now focuses on new claims
Singh also pointed to a Volkswagen car key allegedly found in Twisha’s backpack during the SIT investigation and demanded a detailed inquiry into it.
“When the SIT team came in front of me and was checking her backpack, there was a key inside it which has not been seized by us. We want it to be investigated. There is no Volkswagen car at our place, and our daughter-in-law also didn’t know how to drive a car,” she said.
According to Singh, there was no communication between the family and Twisha during a crucial period before the incident.
“From 9:40 onwards, till when we saw her, during that entire period, we had no contact with her, neither physical nor verbal. If there was no contact with us, and her mother knew that she was crying, then the mother should explain what exactly happened, right?” she said.
She also sought scrutiny of Twisha’s call records and money transfers.
“That is why we want her call details and we also want to know where the money that was transferred to her was spent. Now, everything has come under suspicion,” Singh added.
The case pertains to the death of Twisha Sharma, who married advocate Samarth Singh in December 2025. Following her death on May 12, Bhopal police constituted an SIT to investigate the alleged suicide and the surrounding circumstances.
While a Bhopal district court granted interim bail to Giribala Singh on Saturday, Samarth Singh’s interim bail plea was rejected by Justice Pallavi Dwivedi on Monday. Samarth, an advocate practising at the Bhopal district court, has reportedly been absconding since the incident.
Meanwhile, Twisha’s family has been demanding a second post-mortem at AIIMS Delhi. Her father, Navnidhi Sharma, has also approached the Madhya Pradesh Governor seeking intervention and demanding that Giribala Singh be removed or suspended from her quasi-judicial responsibilities pending investigation.
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