The AIIMS Delhi medical board that conducted a court-ordered second post-mortem on Twisha Sharma, who was found hanging at her marital residence in Bhopal on May 12, on Sunday submitted its final forensic report to the CBI.
The report confimed the presence of skin tissue on the alleged ligature material 'a gymnastics belt' indicating that it matched the injury pattern on the victim's neck. However, the board’s final conclusions remain confidential, in compliance with judicial directives
The five-member board handed over its 11-page report to the CBI in a sealed cover on July 10 in compliance with the Madhya Pradesh High Court's direction.
The forensic opinion has resolved a key dispute on whether the gymnastics belt with a metal ring allegedly used for hanging was the actual ligature, and whether it matched the injuries on Twisha's neck.
The initial autopsy had failed to establish this correlation as the alleged ligature material was not produced before the medical board at the time. This lapse led the Madhya Pradesh High Court to intervene and order a second postmortem by AIIMS Delhi medical board.
Declining to disclose the findings of the report, Dr Sudhir Gupta, Head of Forensic Medicine at AIIMS Delhi, said the board undertook an exhaustive scientific evaluation before arriving at its conclusion.
"The medical board deliberated very minutely on the case from all possible angles, took into consideration all available national and international journals for almost one month before giving a detailed opinion with scientific justification.
It is a crystal-clear opinion for the CBI and for the judiciary in the interest of truth and justice," Gupta said.
He declined to elaborate further, saying the report had been submitted to the CBI in a sealed cover in compliance with the court's directions.
According to the forwarding letter, the AIIMS board handed the sealed report to the CBI investigating officer, while the videography of the second postmortem remains with the investigating agency.
Twisha Sharma, the daughter-in-law of retired Principal District and Sessions Judge Giribala Singh, was found hanging at her matrimonial home in Bhopal earlier this year.
Alleging lapses in the initial police investigation and the preliminary postmortem, her family had approached the Madhya Pradesh High Court. The high court subsequently ordered the fresh autopsy and handed the probe over to the CBI.
(With inputs from ANI)