Bhopal: A 33-year-old woman, identified as Twisha Sharma, was found hanging at her marital home in the Katara Hills area of Bhopal on May 12. Her family has alleged that she was subject to dowry harassment by her lawyer husband, Samarth Singh, and mother-in-law, Giribala Singh, who is a retired judge.
Twisha had met Samarth Singh through a dating app in 2024 and married him just five months ago. Singh is a lawyer at the district court, and his mother had retired from the post of Bhopal district judge in February 2023.
According to reports, Twisha hails from Noida and had won Miss Pune in 2012. She had also briefly worked as a model before taking a career in marketing.
A six-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) was formed on May 16, to probe the case.
Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Rajnish Kashyap, who heads the SIT, told PTI that efforts have been intensified to trace and arrest Samarth Singh and Giribala Singh.
Multiple police teams have been deployed to trace Samarth Singh, officials said.
“Samarth and his mother had rushed Twisha Sharma to a hospital, where doctors declared her dead on arrival. Police received the information about her death from hospital authorities around 11 pm (on Tuesday),” an official said.
Katara Hills police station house officer Sunil Kumar Dubey said the woman’s family has accused her in-laws of murder. Relatives claimed she had remained in contact with them over the phone till around 10 pm on Tuesday, May 12.
Sharma wanted to leave Bhopal and return to Noida, according to her relatives.
Twisha’s family members and relatives held a sit-in protest outside Katara Hills Police Station following her death and demanded action against Giribala Singh and her son.
On Thursday, family members, relatives and acquaintances gathered at the Women’s Police Station with placards. They also created a commotion at the Commissioner’s office.
Twisha’s brother, Harshit Sharma, an Army officer, claimed that the police were refraining from taking action due to the duo’s influence and clout.
The SIT, which also includes a woman police officer, would investigate various angles, including allegations of dowry harassment, physical assault and alleged attempts to destroy evidence after Sharma’s death, officials said.
A Bhopal court on Friday granted anticipatory bail to the retired judge, while the hearing on Samarth Singh’s pre-arrest bail plea is scheduled for May 18.
(With inputs from agencies.)
This post was last modified on May 17, 2026 8:27 pm