Bhopal police took Samarth Singh into custody on Friday after he surrendered at a Jabalpur court. The Madhya Pradesh high court ordered a second autopsy by experts from AIIMS Delhi in the death of his wife, model Twisha Sharma.
Samarth Singh, a lawyer and husband of the 32-year-old model-actor, had been absconding for 10 days in connection with allegations of dowry harassment. He appeared at the Jabalpur district court wearing a mask, cap and sunglasses before police took him into custody and transported him to Bhopal. The Bar Council of India suspended his licence with immediate effect.
The high court directed that a second postmortem be conducted at AIIMS Bhopal with a team of experts from AIIMS Delhi arriving by special flight. Justice AK Singh noted that the death occurred within six months of marriage and that the procedure would clear doubts without casting aspersions on the first report. The victim’s family had requested the step.
The state government has already transferred the investigation to the CBI under the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act. Twisha Sharma was found dead at her home in Bhopal’s Katara Hills area on May 12. The case includes charges under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Dowry Prohibition Act.