Barkha Dutt's column: We have a mountain of unanswered questions in front of us in the Tvisha case

Tvisha Sharma, a former model, was found dead under mysterious circumstances in the house of her mother-in-law and former district judge Giribala Singh. Tvisha's husband Samarth Singh — who is a lawyer by profession and absconded soon after Tvisha's death — and Giribala are now in CBI custody. But there is increasingly evidence to believe that this is not the story of a woman who commits suicide due to dowry demands. Solid facts continue to indicate that Twisha's death was likely the result of a violent attack. Giribala Singh's unusual anxiety over obtaining the CCTV footage of the crime scene indicates that he may have had something to hide. The CCTV technician who installed the cameras at her residence confirmed that they were keen to secure footage of the scene. Why did such an idea come to his mind just a few hours after his daughter-in-law's death? This should be of interest to the police. The matter was not limited to the cameras installed inside the house. The most serious hint against Giribala comes from the beauty parlour where Tvisha was last seen on the day of her death. Tvisha looks visibly comfortable in this video. The parlour manager also said in an interview with us that he did not show any obvious signs of anxiety or stress. The parlour manager also confirmed that the next day Giribala called him and asked him a series of questions to find out how Tvisha had paid his bills. And most importantly, Giribala wanted to know if there were CCTV cameras installed in the parlour, and she wanted to get that footage. Soon after, a group of lawyers reached the parlour and demanded the operator hand over the footage to them. Not only was it illegal, but it also reveals Giribala's frustration. Did they want to take possession of the CCTV footage of the parlour because the images of the calm and relaxed Twisha in it contradicted their claims of suicide? The timeline also does not match the plot of the suicide. Tvisha's family has shared with me the call records that show that she had her last phone conversation with her parents at 10.05pm on the day of her death. Samarth claims that Tvisha hanged himself at 10.20 pm. If the in-laws' claim that she committed suicide by hanging from an exercise ring is to be believed, then it is not an immediate act that can be done in a period of just 15 minutes. The CBI is now using a structure weighing 80 kg to find out if the ring could have borne that much weight. The initial lapses made by the police in this case are also shocking. They indicate not only negligence, but also the interference of influential contacts. The fact that Giribala got anticipatory bail even before Tvisha's family lodged an FIR says a lot. During the first post-mortem process, the police did not even provide the ring that Tvisha allegedly used to hang himself. Senior police officers have told me that this cannot be considered a mere blunder. Tvisha's family lawyer has also raised the question: Is a fair trial possible without a fair investigation? In a private audio recording made by Tvisha's family before her death, Giribala is purportedly heard using abusive and vulgar language towards her daughter-in-law. The first post-mortem report is believed to have been tampered with and possibly manipulated. Tvisha's sister-in-law, Dr Rashi Abrol, has revealed in her recorded statement to me that during the first post-mortem, Giribala's sister – who is also a doctor – was present in the room where the autopsy was being conducted. This was a clear violation of rules and procedures. No satisfactory explanation has been given so far for the seven injuries found on Tvisha's body. Giribala and her son attempted to claim that these injuries were sustained while bringing the body down the stairs from the roof, but it has now been established that all these injuries were caused before death. This fact gives rise to the suspicion that he was attacked before Twisha's death, and it is possible that the same attack also caused his death. Giribala's influential local contacts have raised apprehensions that there may have been a large-scale cover-up in the case. (These are the author's own views)