The last rites of former Miss Pune Twisha Sharma (33) were finally performed here on Sunday evening, 12 days after her suspicious death, allegedly by hanging, on the terrace of her in-laws’ house in the Katara Hills locality on the night of 12 May.
Emotional scenes unfolded at the Bhadbhada Vishram Ghat in Bhopal, where the last rites were performed after 5 pm. Twisha’s mother and other members of the family were inconsolable when the funeral pyre was lit after performing rituals.
Twisha’s father, Navnidhi Sharma, said, “We bid farewell to a daughter, a sister, a friend and an innocent life.”
He told some media persons that his daughter, who had just begun a new phase of life with big dreams, left them all too soon.
“The vacant eyes of parents, shattered dreams, and every passing moment spent waiting for justice raise a silent question before society,” a grieving Navnidhi Sharma lamented.
The cremation was carried out after a team of four doctors from AIIMS New Delhi conducted a second postmortem on Twisha’s body at AIIMS Bhopal earlier in the day. The MP High Court at Jabalpur had ordered on 22 May that a second autopsy be carried out, accepting an application moved in this regard by Twisha’s parents.
Her parents suspect foul play in her death. They have been accusing Twisha’s husband, advocate Samarth Singh, and mother-in-law, retired judge Giribala Singh, of “murdering” Twisha.
The parents had also raised doubts on the first postmortem conducted by doctors of AIIMS Bhopal on 13 May, alleging that the report could have been influenced by Samarth and his mother in their favour.
Samarth is on a seven-day police remand, ordered by a Bhopal Court on 23 May.
Giribala Singh has secured anticipatory bail in the matter.
The Bhopal Police have registered a case at Katara Hills Police Station against Samarth and Giribala Singh in connection with Twisha’s suspicious death.
At her parents’ request, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Dr Mohan Yadav agreed to hand over the investigation to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
The MP government has also issued a formal notification in this regard.