Twisha Sharma's mysterious death has shocked the conscience of the country and has laid bare many uncomfortable truths about the society. A young girl, with her ambitions and dreams, dead in her marital home just five months into what seems from marriage videos a dreamy wedding. Husband on the run, a mother-in-law out to defame the dead daughter-in-law, a system that moves slow, and the girl's family in a desperate fight for justice.
"It all seems like a massive cover-up," says noted author and columnist Shobhaa De. "In this day and age where anyone's location can be traced easily and it's possible to catch even an Osama Bin Laden, how is it possible that Twisha's husband Samarth Singh remained untraceable for 10 days," she asks in anger.
Twisha Sharma, a former model and actor from Noida, was found dead at her matrimonial home in Bhopal's upscale Katara Hills locality on May 12. Her family has accused her husband Samarth Singh and his family of dowry harassment and abetment to suicide. Her husband was finally arrested on Friday after being on the run for 10 days.
Read | "He Wasn't Hiding": Lawyer Of Twisha Sharma's Husband On His Disappearance
In an exclusive interview with NDTV's Shiv Aroor, De takes a hard and unsparing look at the shocking case, the mother-in-law Giribala Singh's actions post Twisha's death and the also at the society's behaviour at large when it comes to daughters and marriage.
Calling Giribala Singh a "criminal mind with judicial experience", De says that her conduct over the last 10 days shows that she is doing all that she can with her influence in the system to cover it all up. Singh is a retired judge.
Slamming her public statements after Twisha's death, De expressed anger over mother-in-law trying to defame the dead girl by speaking about her mental health, alleging affairs, leaking stuff in media, even as she continued to justify her son's disappearance saying they wanted to exhaust all legal remedies. "All this shows that she is using her 35 years of judicial experience and influence in the system to cover up the case".
As the MP High Court allowed a second autopsy on Friday, as demanded by Twisha's family, Shobhaa De hoped that truth would come out. "Body holds a lot of truths. If her brother had not pushed for a second autopsy, truth would have been cremated with the body," De says.
"The case must be probed not only as dowry death, but also as a cover-up as investigators seems to have done a shoddy job."
Read | How Twisha Sharma's Death Has Brought The Invisible Emotional Abuse To Front
The author, who has written extensively on marriages, relationships and society, also held a mirror to Twisha's family, blaming them for not standing with their daughter. "Her family can't be exonerated. Twisha kept asking for help, but they did not help. In our society, family closes the doors on their daughters once they are married. The daughters are expected to adjust in a bad marriage," De says.
Lauding the fight for justice by Twisha's brother Major Harshit Sharma, De says "but for the brother's efforts and the power of public opinion, the case would have been buried, and Twisha would just be another statistic".
On society's behaviour towards daughters, De shared what a young girl said amid the raging debates over this case. "In India a dead daughter is better than a divorced daughter. This is the bigger tragedy," she quoted.
While De hoped that those involved in Twisha's death get punished, she is not very optimistic about any wider change in the society, which still reduces "bahurani (daughter-in-law) to just a glorified naukrani (servant)".
"Nothing is going to change in the society. Twisha will be just a statistic and life will carry on," she fears.
"Our society is uncomfortable talking about the idea of a marriage not working, and the girl is blamed, always".
