Trigger warning: This report contains graphic references and language that some readers may find disturbing. The chat images in this report are not actual screenshots.
New Delhi: Between 24 March, when Twisha Sharma returned to her matrimonial home in Bhopal, and 12 May, when she died allegedly by suicide at the same residence in Bhopal’s Katara Hills area, the actor-model sent several Whatsapp messages to her family members, alerting them about the cruelty and distress her husband and mother-in-law allegedly subjected her to.
According to the Whatsapp messages, Twisha told her parents, brother and sister-in-law that her indecision over whether to continue her “unplanned pregnancy” became a final flashpoint in the alleged cruelty she faced, leaving her feeling she had “no other option but to end her life.”
These details have been documented and submitted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in its chargesheet against Twisha’s husband, Samarth Singh and her mother-in-law Giribala Singh, a former district judge.
ThePrint takes a look at the series of distress messages (in the CBI chargesheet) Twisha sent to her family on Whatsapp, detailing the scale and extent of mental distress she was allegedly put under in her marriage. These Whatsapp messages and alerts have been included in the CBI’s chargesheet against Giribala and Samarth Singh.
16 April: Twisha’s pregnancy test at her matrimonial home returned positive. Amid mental cruelty by her husband, she wanted more time to decide whether she wished to continue with the pregnancy.
17 April: Twisha and Samarth had a big argument after he told his mother that Twisha wasn’t sure if she wanted to continue the pregnancy. According to the case details, Samarth allegedly abused Twisha Sharma using words like “R****, K****, Bahan ki *****”
19 April: Hurt by the abuse, Twisha left her matrimonial house and went to her parents house in Rajasthan’s Nasirabad. It was here that Twisha told her parents that Giribala Singh kept a track of her period cycle and was desperate for her to conceive. She also revealed to her parents that her response to Giribala was that she would herself tell her when she would conceive, which left the former district judge furious.
21 April: Twisha’s father, Navnidhi Sharma, called Giribala Singh after his daughter informed him that Samarth caused her mental cruelty by mocking her with words such as “Tujhe to English bolni bhi nahi aati isliye teri naukri chali gai (You lost your job because you don’t know how to speak in English).”
23 April: Twisha along with her brothers and mother came to meet Giribala at Twisha’s matrimonial house in Bhopal and the families agreed for couple counselling.
29 April: Twisha approached her former employer, Amit Das, in Gurugram to see if she could get a job.
On 30 April, she returned to her matrimonial home. The first Whatsapp distress message recorded in the CBI chargesheet was the one Twisha sent to her parents on that day.
30 April: Twisha sent the following message to her family on WhatsApp.
“Ye yaha baat hi nahi kar raha hai, Bhopal bula kar phir se sab natak, Meri tabiyat kharab ho rahi hai, Mujhe plane mai bhi anxiety attack aaya hai, Mera jeevan narak ho gaya hai mummy (He is not talking to me and doing the same drama after calling me back to Bhopal. My health is worsening and I suffered an anxiety attack in the plane itself. My life has become a hell, mumma),” Twisha sent a WhatsApp text to her mother.
The same day, she went to a Bhopal-based psychiatrist who prescribed her anti-anxiety medicines, observing that she was going through anxiety over her pregnancy. Twisha made a phone call to her mother, saying: “ye sab mujhe pagal sabit karna chahte hain (All of them want to prove me to be mentally ill).”
7 May: CBI documents that between 3.01 am and 3.09 am on 7 May, Twisha sent her mother a text saying: “Maa aap mujhe yaha se lene aajao kal please. I don’t think Samarth ko ab main chaheye hu, kal subah phone karna, Pata nahi ab maine kya kiya, Samarth ne kaha hai 01 saal se jhel rahe hai mujhe, Mujhe nahi samajh aaraha hai mummy mai karu toh kya karu. Aap dekh lo, kal ya parso ki koi ticket mile toh Direct train bhi hai. Aap akeli hi aana. Hum saath chal lenge phir. Papa ko mat lana abhi. Chup-chup nikalenge. Jaise ye sab yah bolenge, vaise kar denge.”
(Mom, please come and take me from here tomorrow. I don’t think Samarth wants me around anymore; call me tomorrow morning. I don’t know what I’ve done now—Samarth said he’s been putting up with me for a year. I just don’t know what to do, mom. Please check if you can get a ticket for tomorrow or the day after; there’s a direct train, too. Come alone, and we can travel back together; don’t bring dad right now. We’ll leave quietly, and we’ll do whatever they say.”
Later the same day, Twisha purportedly sent another round of Whatsapp texts to her sister-in-law, stating that Giribala had already called her a murderer on three occasions after she opted for abortion.
On this, Twisha allegedly told her sister-in-law that Samarth said to his mother: “Pahli wali ko bhi aapne banjh kah kar bhaga diya (you already threw the earlier one out calling her infertile.”
At about 11 am the same day, Twisha sent another Whatsapp to her sister-in-law: “This man is crazy. He has started the same behaviour again. Everything again which he should not. Rashu, I am breaking now. I see no future here”.
8 May: Twisha sent another WhatsApp text to her mother in the afternoon, after receiving the second dose of medication for terminating the pregnancy.
“Maine kaha tha mummy bachche ke bina meri koi izzat hi nahi iske man mai, bacche k baad mujhe ye pagal sabit karke bachcha cheen leta, mera toh isne kya kya nahi bata diya poore parivar mai (I told you, Mummy—he has absolutely no respect for me; after the baby would have been born, he would have labelled me mentally unwell, and snatched the child away. He said all sorts of terrible things about me to the entire family).”
The same day, Twisha informed her mother and sister-in-law that Samarth had become very aggressive, and dismissed her pain and bleeding from abortion pills by saying: “Natak kar rahi hai (She’s just acting).”
9 May: Between 3.48 pm and 4.25 pm, Twisha sent a Whatsapp text to her mother again. “Samarth pooch raha hai kiska baccha tha jo abort kiya hai, Mummy yaha par mai bus pagal ho jaungi, Mujhse nahi ho pa raha ab ye sab (Samarth is asking whose baby it was that you aborted it; Mom, I’m going to lose my mind here—I just can’t handle all this anymore).”
To her mother’s suggestion that she should raise the issue with her mother-in-law, Twisha replied: “Amma yakeen he nahi kar rahi hai ki Samarth aisa bol sakta hai, Samne se jhoot bhi bol deta hai, papa se nak ragadva kar maafi mangvana chahta hai, Par mujhe ab iss aadmi par koi pyaar nahi aaraha hai, Nafrat ho gayi hai isse, Mujhe pooch raha hai vo kiska baccha tha aur mai ignore karu, Kaisi aurat ho aap, Ye apne ghatiyapane ki har limit cross karke baitha hai, Kaise reh lu iske saath, Shrap lagega isse mera.”
(Amma (Giribala Singh) is not believing that Samarth can say such a thing, he even lies in front of me, he wants to make Papa apologise. But I do not feel any love for this man now. I am disgusted with him. He is asking me whose child it was, and I should ignore him? What kind of woman are you? He has crossed all limits of vileness, how can I live with him? He will have to pay for what he has done to me).”
Her mother advised her to inform Giribala Singh that she should tell her that her parents asked her to come home, to which Twisha replied: “Nahi abhi nahi. Har tareeke ki gandi baat bolkar seedha ban kar baith jata hai, Amma k samne jhooth bolta hai, Mera ab dum ghut raha hai maa yaha (No, not right now. He speaks all kinds of filthy things and then acts innocent. He lies to Amma. I feel suffocated here.
When her mother asked her to raise the issue once again with Giribala, Twisha replied: “Amma nahi sun rahi hai, Ye sab bohot zyada nirdayi hai mummy, Saamne vale k liy koi daya nahi hai bus labour class ko apni daya dikhate hain, Mera dum ghutta ab yaha, Neech baatei karta hai ye aadmi, Mujhse nahi hoga (Amma isn’t listening. This is all so cruel, Mummy; there is no compassion for the person right in front of us—they only show pity to the labour class. I feel suffocated here now. This man talks in such a vile manner; I can’t make it).”
By the evening of the same day, Twisha raised similar alarms about abuse by Samarth.
“I don’t think Rashu, this will work out anymore,” she told her sister-in-law. “He has crossed all the limits, Today he asked me whether was his child or someone else’s. Is that why I aborted it? I told Amma that look what your son is saying… he lied in front of her and she as usual chose to believe him. Rashu mera dum ghut raha hai ab, like this I swear I will be able to find courage to finish myself completely, Mai aisi ladki nahi hu yaar, Ye kya bol raha hai, I want to f****ing die man, I swear I will, I’ll find a way to vanish.”
The same day, Twisha also called her former employer and said she was under constant surveillance by her mother-in-law and that she wanted to come to Delhi/Noida for office meetings, even at her own expense.
However, by the night of 9 May, Twisha had allegedly changed her mind and texted her mother: “Ho sake to kardo cancel abhi, Mujhe dar hai aur zyada na bhad jaye ladai, Thodi kalesh thandi ho tab jaake koi decision lena hai abhi nahi, Kyuki yaha par kuch bhi bawal ho sakta hai (If possible, cancel it for now; I’m afraid the things might escalate further. Wait for things to cool down a bit before making a decision…not right now…because it could take any turn).”
11 May: Twisha left another Whatsapp message to her mother on the morning of 11 May: “Inn sabko ye lagta hai ki mai drugs karti hu, isliye mera mood kharab rehta hai. Bus ek chhod baar dil mai ye nahi aaraha hai ki inka beta he mujhe kar baitha hai, Mera mood iss vajah se bhi karab ho Na sakta hai, mujhe bohot zyada ghutan ho rahi hai maa, rone denge ye log na hasne ki vajah denge, Mai to bohot buri tarah phas gayi hu, Mujhe pooch rahi thi, tum dark se drugs toh nhi managavati, Pata nahi hai yaar, aag lag gayi hai jindagi mai meri.
(They all think I do drugs and that’s why I’m always in a bad mood. It never even crosses their minds that it might be their own son who drove me to this state, or that my mood could be bad for that very reason. I feel so suffocated, Ma. They won’t let me cry, nor will they give me a reason to smile. I’m trapped in a terrible situation. Someone even asked me if I was ordering drugs on the dark web… I don’t know what to do; my life has gone up in flames).”
By the evening of the same day, Twisha expressed her anguish to her mother again. “Amma aur Samarth dono aapas mai aise baat kar rahe hai jaise kuch hua he nahi hai Na amma keh rahi kuch na vo kuch keh raha hai, Mera man nhi lagta ab kahin bhi ab kuch bhi nhi accha lagta (Amma and Samarth are talking to each other as if nothing has happened. Amma is saying something, he’s saying something. I don’t feel like doing anything anymore; nothing feels right anymore).”
12 May: Twisha called her mother and asked her to send Rs 3,000 to her account so she could book a ticket to Nasirabad, Rajasthan, as Samarth was not agreeing to go to the couples counselling that had been planned by then.
At 7.51 pm, Twisha called her sister-in-law and informed her that Samarth was allegedly pressuring her to transfer Rs 20 lakh from her account to his, which he wanted to invest in the Chinese share market.
At 9.20 pm, Twisha made another call to her sister-in-law, but the conversation did not last long as she was crying, according to the CBI chargesheet.
Shortly after the call, Twisha dropped a huge message on Whatsapp to her sister-in-law. “Ask him to collect leftovers of his wife. But tomorrow. Let me die in peace right now.”
Twisha’s parents called her at 9.41 pm and 10.05 pm. She was crying. Amid the sobs, she told them Samarth Singh had gone very aggressive and violent towards her. Her phone then disconnected—never to connect again.
When her mother failed to reach her, she called up Giribala Singh. Shortly afterwards, Twisha was allegedly found hanging.
The AIIMS Bhopal declared her dead on arrival at 10.55 pm on 12 May.
ThePrint reached out to Giribala Singh’s lawyer Inosh George Carlo on Tuesday and Wednesday for a comment on the charges, but he refused to comment. “The media has been reporting without responsibility since the first day and hence I have maintained distance,” he told ThePrint.
Also read: Twisha Sharma suicide: CBI charges former MP district judge, son with ‘cruelty & abetment’
What Giribala Singh said before arrest
Before her arrest in May last week, Giribala told the media that her daughter-in-law had taken MTP (Medical Termination of Pregnancy) pills despite family objections, and later expressed a desire to undo the procedure.
The CBI has charged both Giribala and Samarth under Sections 80(2) (dowry death), 85 (husband or relative of husband subjecting her to cruelty), 108 (abetment to suicide), 3(5) (common intention) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), and Sections 3 and 4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act.
In the 600 page-plus chargesheet, the CBI alleged that the former wife of Giribala’s elder son faced similar treatment for not having a child and staying without a job after marriage.
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)
Also read: Twisha Sharma case: Father calls CBI chargesheet ‘partial’, seeks third opinion on post-mortem