Twisha Sharma's Husband, Samarth Singh, Arrested After 10 Days On The Run

Having evaded the police for 10 days since his wife, Twisha Sharma, was found hanging at their home in Bhopal, Samarth Singh has finally been arrested. 

Twisha's family has alleged she was harassed for dowry and demanded strict action against Samarth and his mother, retired judge Giribala Singh. 

Samarth, a lawyer, went to a Jabalpur court to surrender hours after withdrawing his anticipatory bail application in the Madhya Pradesh High Court. The court asked him to surrender before a court in Bhopal and a police team, which was on the premises, took him into custody. Singh was then taken to Bhopal. Live updates

The lawyer had entered the Jabalpur court wearing a mask, cap, sunglasses and a cloth around his shoulder, hiding his face almost entirely.

Twisha, 33, was found hanging at her home in Bhopal's Katara Hills area on May 12 and while it was initially said to be a suicide, skeletons began tumbling out of the closet soon after. Her family said she was harassed for dowry and humiliated repeatedly. They also alleged the investigation was not carried out properly and refused to take custody of her body, demanding that a second autopsy be carried out. 

Twisha had also told both her family and friends that she felt trapped in an unhappy marriage and was facing harassment. 

The Singh family, on their part, alleged Twisha was depressed and claimed she consumed narcotics. Giribala Singh went on a verbal rampage, making several disparaging remarks about her late daughter-in-law. She accused Twisha of theatrics, questioned her values and allegedly asked her whether she had entered relationships with men for "personal gain".

Speaking to NDTV on Thursday, Twisha's brother, Major Harshit Sharma said it was "unfathomable" how anyone could be so cruel. 

"How can a woman, even after wanting to have a baby, be questioned about her character not just by her husband but her mother-in-law? Two out of three people who are staying at that house - I won't call it a home... When she is being questioned about the integrity of the child, about the legitimacy of the child, about the character that my sister had, how can anyone continue with that? How can she bring a child to such a suffocating house even if she wanted to?" Major Sharma asked. 

He also alleged that Giribala Singh had interfered with the investigation. 

Legal Developments

Earlier in the day, the Madhya Pradesh High Court allowed a second post-mortem of Twisha's body and said it should be conducted by a team from AIIMS Delhi, but in Bhopal. Twisha's family had alleged there were lapses in the first autopsy and it did not detail injuries found on her body. 

Twisha's height mentioned in the post-mortem report was also different from the figure noted in the police report. 

In another development on the same day, the police approached the Madhya Pradesh High Court seeking that Giribala Singh's anticipatory bail be cancelled. 

The police argued that the sessions court failed to examine the WhatsApp chats exchanged between Twisha and her parents, which carried "crystal clear allegations" against Giribala Singh and Samarth. They alleged she had tried to tamper with evidence and also attempted to influence the investigation, both of which violated the conditions of her anticipatory bail.