The high-profile case of the death of 33-year-old Tuisha Sharma, a model and actress who was found dead in the home where she lived with her husband, just five months after their wedding.
India’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed charges against her husband, Samarth Singh, and his mother, Girimbala Singh, with “incitement to commit suicide” and “cruel treatment,” according to the BBC.
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
Canadian Anne Carson Wins the Nobel Prize in Literature
A Look Back at Apollon’s International Soccer Players
The 33-year-old’s death on May 12 in the city of Bhopal had sparked widespread interest in India and daily news reports, with Sharma’s family claiming murder and her husband’s side maintaining that it was a clear-cut suicide.
Samarth Singh, a lawyer, and his mother, a retired judge, deny the charges. Both remain in jail.
“They left her no other choice”
In the approximately 600-page indictment, which was filed in court last week, the CBI describes an environment of constant psychological pressure within the marriage. “Due to the constant psychological abuse by the two defendants, she had no choice but to end her life,” the indictment states.
According to the investigation, after their marriage, Samarth allegedly subjected Tuisha to repeated verbal abuse and used derogatory terms against her. The CBI also alleges that his mother “occasionally incited her son to mistreat Tuisha.”
The lawyer for the 33-year-old’s family, Ankur Pandey, explained to BBC Hindi that the CBI’s decision to charge him with abetting suicide means that, at this stage, the investigation is treating her death as an alleged suicide.
However, the case is not considered definitively closed. The CBI has asked the court for permission to conduct further investigations, so that, should new evidence emerge, the possible involvement of other individuals can be investigated and, if necessary, additional charges can be filed.
Allegations of harassment regarding the dowry and coercion into an abortion
From the very beginning, Tuissa’s parents and siblings had maintained that the 33-year-old was being tormented by her husband and mother-in-law over demands related to her dowry. They had also alleged that she had been murdered.
Girimbala Singh called the allegations “baseless,” claiming that his daughter-in-law was suffering from mental health issues and had taken her own life.
Samarth had not initially been located by the authorities, but he later turned himself in to the police. His mother was arrested a few days later.
Girimbala’s attorney, Inos George Carlo, told the BBC that the investigation found no evidence to support the initial allegations of dowry-related harassment and murder. “We’ve been saying this from the start, but the media never listened to us,” he said.
One of the most serious aspects of the case concerns what, according to Tuissa’s family, happened when she became pregnant in April.
Her relatives claim that her husband and mother-in-law questioned the child’s paternity, accusing her of carrying another man’s child. They also claim that she was forced to have an abortion in the first week of May, just a few days before her death.
Girimbala has also rejected this version of events, claiming that it was Twisha herself who insisted on terminating the pregnancy because she did not want to have children.
From Meeting on a Dating App to Marriage
Tuisa had met Samarth through a dating app in February 2025, and the two were married in December of that same year.
The 33-year-old had made a name for herself in the modeling world when she won a beauty pageant in 2012 and was crowned Miss Pune. She subsequently appeared in advertising campaigns and starred in a Telugu-language film, while in recent years she also worked as a marketing professional at private companies.
The case gained even greater prominence in India due to her mother-in-law’s status as a former judge, as the public followed with particular interest a case involving a member of the judiciary.
A few days after Tuisha’s death, Girimbala sparked intense reactions when she held a press conference and appeared in the media, speaking publicly about her daughter-in-law’s mental health.
Among other things, she described the 33-year-old as “liberal,” and when a reporter asked her to explain what she meant, she referred to “sexual promiscuity.”
Her remarks sparked an outcry, with Tuissa’s father accusing her of attempting to tarnish his daughter’s memory.
