The last rites of former model-actor Twisha Sharma, 32, were performed at 5 pm on Sunday at Bhadbhada Ghat in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, following a second postmortem conducted by a four-member AIIMS Delhi team in Bhopal.
"I am very emotional right now. I just want to bid farewell to my daughter first," Twisha's father, Navnidhi Sharma, said minutes before the cremation.
Family members said Twisha's mother-in-law, Giribala Singh, and husband, Samarth Singh, were not allowed to attend the funeral rites.
Twisha was found dead on May 12 at her matrimonial home in Bhopal's Katara Hills area. While her in-laws claimed it was a case of suicide, her family alleged that she was murdered by her husband and in-laws over dowry-related harassment.
Questioning the initial investigation and postmortem findings, the family approached the Madhya Pradesh High Court in Jabalpur seeking a second postmortem. Acting on the court's directions, the procedure was conducted under tight security at AIIMS Bhopal.
Samarth Singh, who had been absconding, was arrested in Jabalpur on Friday. A local court in Bhopal remanded him to seven days of police custody from May 23 to May 29 for further interrogation.
Twisha's relative Ashish Sharma also made strong remarks against the accused family, demanding accountability.
"They themselves are responsible for this entire incident. If they want to come forward honestly, they should clearly state the truth. Nothing can compensate for this loss now," he said.
Earlier, Twisha's father said the AIIMS team had assured the family of a fair and unbiased second postmortem.
"We are hopeful that the team will work out good findings because the whole point of a second postmortem is if someone feels something is missing," Navnidhi Sharma had said.
Emotional scenes were witnessed outside the mortuary as Twisha's mother and other family members broke down in grief before the body was taken for cremation.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court on Saturday registered a suo motu case titled 'In Re Alleged Institutional Bias and Procedural Discrepancies in the Unnatural Death of a Young Woman at Matrimonial Home'. A bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant is expected to hear the matter on Monday.
The case remains under investigation.
After the second postmortem was completed and the body handed over to the family, Major General Shyam Shrivastava said, "After many days, she is finally getting her last rites, and all this happened because of these people. We are seeing a little positivity in this case now. We hope justice will be delivered soon."
