Twisha Sharma, a 33-year-old former model and actor, was found dead in her matrimonial home in Bhopal on 12 May, setting off a dowry death investigation that has now pulled in courts, police and a grieving family demanding answers. Police are trying to trace her husband, lawyer Samarth Singh, who is absconding, while a Bhopal court has rejected his bail application and asked him to surrender by 23 May.
The case turned more volatile on Friday when the high court accepted the family's request for a second post-mortem, after relatives refused to cremate her body. The first autopsy report seen by the said Twisha died by hanging, but also noted injuries sustained before her death, a combination that has intensified suspicion around what happened inside the home.
Her parents and siblings say she was tortured by Samarth and his mother, retired judge Giribala Singh, over dowry demands, and they have alleged that she was murdered. Police have lodged a case of dowry death against the Singhs and are investigating whether Twisha's death was murder or suicide. A cash reward has been announced for information on Samarth, and a lookout notice has been issued to make sure he does not leave the country.
Giribala has called the accusations baseless and said Twisha had mental health issues and killed herself. In a separate twist, a court in Bhopal granted her anticipatory bail. The split legal outcomes have left the family pressing its case while the police hunt continues, with one accused free on bail and the other still out of reach.
Twisha's life before her death had given her a public profile far beyond Bhopal. She was crowned Miss Pune in 2012, appeared in advertising campaigns, acted in a Telugu-language film and worked in recent years as a marketing professional with private firms. Her family says she met Samarth through a dating app in 2024 and that they married in December 2025. They allege tensions began soon after the wedding, including taunts that the marriage was not according to the Singhs' standards.
Dowry deaths remain a grim and recurring issue in India, where thousands of young women are reported killed each year over disputes tied to insufficient dowries. This case has drawn unusual attention because Twisha had worked as a model and actor and because her in-laws include a retired judge, which has made the fight over the cause of death even more closely watched. The second post-mortem now becomes the most consequential next step, because its findings may either support the family's allegation of murder or give police a firmer basis to pursue the suicide claim.
