In India, where thousands of young women are murdered every year for bringing in insufficient dowries, a dowry death rarely makes news.
But the death of Twisha Sharma in the central city of Bhopal on 12 May has sparked a huge media frenzy, with the case making headlines every day.
The 33-year-old model and actor had been married for just five months to lawyer Samarth Singh when she was found dead in her matrimonial home.
Twisha’s parents and siblings have alleged that she was tortured by Singh and his mother – retired judge Giribala Singh – over dowry demands and that she was murdered.
Giribala Singh has called the accusations “baseless” and alleged that Twisha had mental health issues and that she killed herself.
Police official Rajnish Kashyap Kaul told BBC Hindi that they have lodged a case of dowry death against the Singhs and are investigating whether Twisha’s death was murder or suicide.
Police say they are also trying to find Samarth who is absconding – a cash reward has been announced for any information on him and a lookout notice has been issued to ensure he does not leave the country.
A court in Bhopal has given anticipatory bail to Giribala Singh but rejected Samarth’s bail application. He’s been asked to surrender by 23 May.
Giribala Singh has said she doesn’t know where her son is, but added that he will seek bail in the high court and will surrender if it’s rejected.
“Our lawyer advised him to stay away. He told him you’ll be lynched if you came out. There’s a tirade against him, people are calling for his hanging,” she told video platform Mojo Story.
“You must remember that my son has lost a deeply loved one, he’s lost his companion in life. And we can’t even grieve… Everyone is against us,” she said.
Twisha’s family, meanwhile, have refused to cremate her body and sought a second post-mortem – the first autopsy report, which the BBC has seen, said she died by hanging, but it also spoke of injuries sustained before her death. On Friday, the high court accepted their request.
With Samarth still absconding, Twisha’s family making grave allegations against the Singhs and the former judge giving interviews about the deceased’s alleged mental health issues, there has been relentless media coverage of the case. A “justice for Twisha Sharma” page has come up on Instagram and has found its way into the media coverage.
The extraordinary interest in the case is because of who Twisha was and the reputation of the family she married into – in public perception, members of India’s powerful judiciary are meant to lead by example.
A model and actor, Twisha was crowned Miss Pune in 2012 after winning a beauty pageant in the western Indian city. She had featured in a number of advertising campaigns and acted in a Telugu-language film. In recent years, she had also worked as a marketing professional with private firms. Friends and family describe her as happy, generous and ambitious.
Her family said she met Samarth, a lawyer based in Bhopal, through a dating app in 2024 and the two married in December 2025. Photographs from their wedding day show the happy bride and groom posing for pictures.
But the Sharmas say tensions started soon after the marriage. They allege that despite giving dowry at the time of marriage, they were constantly taunted by the Singhs that the wedding was not according to their “standards” – an accusation Giribala Singh has rejected. (Giving and receiving dowry is illegal in India, but it is still widely practised.)
The couple’s relationship has come under scrutiny after Twisha’s family released what they said were recent Whatsapp messages from her where she alleged torture by the Singhs. “My life is a living hell,” one message read.
The biggest point of friction between Twisha and her in-laws, the Sharmas say, came in April after she became pregnant. They allege that “her husband and mother-in-law questioned her character and accused her of carrying someone else’s baby” and “forced her to undergo an abortion in the first week of May”.
Giribala Singh has denied the allegations – she says that it was Twisha who insisted on the abortion saying that she did not want children.
Twisha’s father Navnidhi Sharma told BBC Hindi that the last time they spoke to their daughter was on 12 May, the night of her death, when she called him on WhatsApp at around 21:41 local time [16:11 GMT].
“Twisha was talking to her mother when suddenly the line dropped,” he said, adding that their calls went unanswered for the next 20 minutes, after which Giribala Singh picked up the phone and said, “she is no more”.
The Sharmas, who first reported their daughter’s death to the police, have questioned why Twisha’s in-laws did not inform the police. “A retired judge surely must know what the protocol in such cases is,” Navnidhi Sharma asked. Giribala Singh said the delay was because they prioritised rushing Twisha to hospital.
The former judge, who’s named as a suspect in the police complaint, has also drawn criticism for addressing a press conference and giving long media interviews where she’s discussed Twisha’s mental health and called her “liberal” – when asked to explain the term by an interviewer, she spoke of “promiscuity”. Her comments led to a huge outrage with many calling for cancellation of her bail and demanding her arrest.
Twisha’s father said it was an attempt to tarnish his daughter’s name.
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The family have also questioned the police investigation and alleged lapses in the way the inquiry is being done. On Wednesday, Bhopal’s police commissioner Sanjay Kumar acknowledged to the BBC that there had been lapses, but he ruled out murder and said, “based on the post-mortem report and our investigation so far, this is a case of suicide”.
Twisha’s father has questioned both the post-mortem report and the police investigation, insisting that his daughter was murdered and alleged that “influential people are trying to derail the investigation”.
Police commissioner Kumar’s comments, however, are unlikely to be the last word in the case. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav has said the case will now be investigated by the federal police – the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) – and assured the Sharma family that the government would “fully assist” them.
Navnidhi Sharma says he will continue to fight until justice is served to his daughter.
“My daughter was wronged in her lifetime, and now every effort is being made to ensure that she does not get justice even after her death. We will not rest until we get her justice.”
@ BBC News
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