The CBI has arrested retired judge Giribala Singh, mother-in-law of Twisha Sharma, a day after the Madhya Pradesh High Court cancelled her anticipatory bail. A Bhopal court has sent her to five-day CBI custody.
THE Central Bureau of Investigation arrested retired district judge Giribala Singh in the Twisha Sharma death case on Thursday, May 28, a day after the Madhya Pradesh High Court quashed the anticipatory bail that had been granted to her by a Bhopal sessions court.
She was taken into custody after several hours of questioning at her residence in Bhopal’s Bag Mughaliya Extension area.
Also read: What is the Twisha Sharma case?
On Friday, May 29, a Bhopal district court sent her to five days of CBI custody, while extending the custody of Twisha’s husband, advocate Samarth Singh, who was already with the agency, by a further five days. Her counsel did not oppose the request for custodial interrogation.
The arrest followed the order of May 27, in which a single-judge Bench of Justice Devnarayan Mishra set aside the pre-arrest protection, observing that the case was at an initial stage and that the custodial interrogation of Giribala Singh could be required.
The court had noted that six antemortem injuries were found on the body, and that the statements of Twisha’s mother and other relatives, along with WhatsApp chats collected during the investigation, carried allegations of harassment against both the mother-in-law and her son, and not against the husband alone.
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The CBI had taken over the probe on May 25, after the Supreme Court directed the transfer amid allegations of institutional influence and concern over the fairness of the initial investigation, and re-registered the FIR against the two. Giribala Singh stands booked under sections 80(2), 85 and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, along with sections 3 and 4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961.
Twisha Sharma, a 33-year-old model and actor, was found hanging at her matrimonial home in Bhopal on May 12, within six months of her marriage. With both the accused now in its custody, the agency is examining forensic evidence and reconstructing the circumstances leading to her death.
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