New Delhi, May 23 (IANS) The Supreme Court has taken suo motu (on its own motion) cognisance of the high-profile suspected dowry death of model-turned-actor Twisha Sharma at her matrimonial home in Bhopal, amid allegations of institutional bias and procedural lapses in the investigation.

As per details uploaded on the website of the apex court, the matter has been registered as “In Re: Alleged Institutional Bias and Procedural Discrepancies in the Unnatural Death of a Young Girl at Her Matrimonial Home”.

The suo motu case, registered on Saturday as SMW (Crl.) No. 4/2026, is slated to be heard on May 25 by a Bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M. Pancholi.

The development comes amid mounting controversy surrounding the death of Twisha Sharma, who was found hanging at her matrimonial home in the Katara Hills area of Bhopal on May 12.

Her family has alleged dowry harassment, procedural lapses in the initial probe, delay in registration of FIR, inconsistencies in the post-mortem examination, and possible tampering with evidence.

The Madhya Pradesh government has already recommended a CBI investigation into the matter following public outrage and demands from the victim’s family for an independent probe.

Meanwhile, Twisha Sharma’s husband Samarth Singh, the prime accused in the case, was sent to seven days of police remand by a Bhopal district court after being brought to the city from Jabalpur under tight security.

In another significant development, the Madhya Pradesh High Court earlier directed that a second post-mortem examination of Twisha Sharma’s body be conducted by a medical team to be constituted by the Director of AIIMS Delhi.

The state government had also approached the High Court seeking cancellation of the interim bail granted to Twisha Sharma’s mother-in-law Giribala Singh, a retired judicial officer, citing alleged non-cooperation and apprehensions regarding possible compromise of evidence.

Twisha Sharma’s family has consistently maintained that she was subjected to mental and physical harassment over dowry-related demands and has sought a fast-track trial along with a court-monitored investigation.

On the other hand Giribala Singh has questioned the manner in which the investigation was being conducted and alleged that the police were working under pressure.

–IANS

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