‘Let me die in peace’: CBI chargesheet reconstructs Twisha Sharma’s final 90 minutes

Bhopal: The final hours of 34-year-old Twisha Sharma’s life have been reconstructed in a 600-page chargesheet filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which has accused her husband Samarth Singh and mother-in-law Giribala Singh of subjecting her to sustained mental cruelty and abetting her suicide.

The chargesheet, filed on August 14, details WhatsApp messages, phone calls, CCTV footage, medical records, counselling sessions, family statements and financial allegations to piece together the events leading to Twisha’s death on May 12.

At 9:36 p.m. that night, Twisha sent a WhatsApp message to her sister-in-law Rashi Abrol: “Ask him to collect leftover of his wife. But tomorrow. Let me die in peace right now.”

Four minutes later, CCTV footage cited by the CBI allegedly showed Twisha walking alone from the ground floor of her Bhopal home towards the terrace.

At 9:41 p.m., she called her father while crying. According to the CBI, she said Samarth had become “very aggressive and violent”, that she was frightened and asked her parents to come to her immediately. Around 10:05 p.m., she spoke to her mother and allegedly repeated the same concerns.

At around 10:23 p.m., CCTV footage allegedly captured Samarth and his mother Giribala heading towards the terrace. Twisha was subsequently brought downstairs and taken to AIIMS Bhopal, where she was declared brought dead at around 10:55 p.m.

The CBI has booked Samarth and Giribala under Sections 85, 108 and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

According to the agency, Twisha, a former Miss Pune who had worked as an actor before moving into the corporate sector, met Samarth through an online dating application in February 2025. They married on December 9 that year.

According to NDTV, the CBI alleges that after their marriage, Samarth subjected Twisha to repeated mental cruelty, including sexually derogatory remarks and allegations concerning relationships she had disclosed before marriage. It also alleges that Giribala repeatedly sided with or encouraged her son when Twisha objected to his behaviour.

The relationship reportedly deteriorated further in March and April 2026. While Twisha was staying with her father during his treatment after a heart attack, the CBI alleges that both accused pressured her to return to Bhopal. She returned on March 24.

Twisha subsequently discovered she was pregnant on April 16. According to the chargesheet, the pregnancy was unplanned and she was uncertain about continuing it because of Samarth’s alleged abusive behaviour. Following an argument on April 17, she left her matrimonial home.

The CBI has also alleged that financial disputes contributed to the deterioration of the relationship. Twisha reportedly had investments worth around Rs 20 lakh in shares through a demat account. The agency alleges that Samarth and Giribala pressured her to transfer the investment into a joint account opened by Twisha and Samarth on April 7. She refused, saying the money belonged to her father.

On April 30, after returning to Bhopal, Twisha allegedly told her mother that her life had become “hell” and that she had suffered an anxiety attack. She was subsequently examined by a psychiatrist, who reportedly found her anxious and distressed about the pregnancy and prescribed medication.

On May 6, Twisha accepted an offer to rejoin her previous job and took the first dose of medication for termination of pregnancy. In messages to her mother the following morning, she allegedly asked to be taken away from the matrimonial home.

The chargesheet says Giribala wanted to explore whether the termination could be reversed. Twisha accompanied her mother-in-law to a hospital on May 7, but doctors reportedly said the process could not be reversed. She was later examined by another doctor, Dr Kakoli Roy, who allegedly found her emotionally distressed.

The CBI says Twisha told her sister-in-law that Giribala had called her a “murderer” three times over the abortion. On May 8, she took the second dose and reportedly experienced significant pain and bleeding. She allegedly complained that Samarth dismissed her suffering as “drama”.

On May 9, Twisha reportedly told her mother that Samarth had questioned whether the pregnancy she terminated was even his. She also expressed feelings of suffocation and, according to the CBI, spoke about dying and disappearing.

The agency further cites former employer Amit Das, who allegedly told investigators that Twisha complained of being continuously monitored at home and having her calls watched.

On May 12, Twisha decided to leave Bhopal. Around 7:51 p.m., she allegedly told her sister-in-law that Samarth was pressuring her to transfer her investments so that he could invest the money in the Chinese stock market. The CBI is separately investigating the dowry-related allegations.

Earlier that day, Twisha had sought Rs 3,000 from her mother for a train ticket to Nasirabad in Rajasthan. Her father transferred the money and she booked the ticket. She reportedly told her family that she had tried her best to save the marriage but wanted to return because Samarth was unwilling to attend counselling.

Samarth later agreed to attend a counselling session, and the couple met Dr Kakoli Roy around 11:30 a.m. According to the chargesheet, Samarth also raised complaints about Twisha’s behaviour and said they consumed marijuana. The doctor allegedly advised him to listen to her, give her time and stop using marijuana.

The couple returned home around 1 p.m. Twisha later went to a beauty parlour and returned around 6:11 p.m. She allegedly told her mother that Samarth and Giribala had ignored her when she tried to join them outside and that she had concluded the marriage could not be repaired.

The CBI says she decided to leave Bhopal permanently.

Around 9:20 p.m., Twisha was reportedly on a call with Rashi and crying continuously. She allegedly said that after she asked Samarth to sleep in the bedroom because of her back pain, he became aggressive and violent.

After the call disconnected, Twisha answered another call at around 9:29 p.m., but was reportedly too distressed to speak. At 9:36 p.m., she sent the message asking to be allowed to “die in peace”.

Her mother repeatedly attempted to contact her. Around 10:10 p.m., she called Giribala and asked her to check on Twisha. The CBI says CCTV showed Giribala leaving her room at around 10:16 p.m. and going to Twisha’s bedroom. She allegedly called Twisha at 10:18 p.m. after failing to find her and contacted Samarth around 10:21 p.m. At 10:23 p.m., CCTV allegedly showed Giribala and then Samarth heading towards the terrace.

Twisha was brought downstairs by Samarth, his cousin and a domestic worker before being taken to AIIMS Bhopal.

The case also saw controversy over the postmortem examination. The initial AIIMS Bhopal report attributed the death to ante-mortem hanging. After Twisha’s family raised concerns and sought another examination, the Madhya Pradesh High Court ordered a second postmortem.

A medical board from AIIMS Delhi examined the body on May 24 and concluded that the cause of death was asphyxia due to ante-mortem hanging and classified the manner of death as suicidal. The board also found no other medico-legally significant injuries indicating assault before death.

The CBI’s case is therefore not that Twisha was physically murdered, but that prolonged alleged mental cruelty drove her to suicide.

A forensic psychological assessment based on her diaries, CCTV footage and other evidence, the agency said, indicated prolonged psychological harm, hopelessness and lack of support. The CBI alleges that the accused subjected Twisha to cruelty to such an extent that she was left with “no choice except to end her life”.

However, the investigation remains open. The CBI is awaiting forensic extraction of Twisha’s primary iPhone, which it says could provide additional evidence, identify witnesses or reveal the involvement of other persons.

The DVR recovered from the accused’s residence has also been sent to the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) in New Delhi to determine the continuity of CCTV recordings and examine possible tampering. Voice samples of Samarth and Giribala have separately been sent for forensic comparison with audio recordings recovered during the probe.

The CBI has also sought permission to continue investigating allegations relating to dowry demand and dowry death under Section 193(9) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS).

IANS