Cops urge Bhopal woman's family to claim body ‘to prevent decomposition’: ‘Requires -80°C’

A33-year-old adult female from Noida was found deadened interior her married place, barely five months after she moved into a powerful legal family in Madhya Pradesh's Bhopal. Her family later accused her husband and in-laws of subjecting her to mental harassment, dowry pressure and abuse.On Wednesday, Bhopal Police asked the victim’s family to take possession of her body, saying there were concerns it could begin decomposing because AIIMS Bhopal does not have ultra-low temperature storage facilities.ALSO READ | Powerful in-laws, missing husband, CCTV twist: 5 details fuelling suspicion in Bhopal dowry caseBhopal Police urges victim’s family to take custody of bodyThe station house officer (SHO) of Katara Hills police station sent a letter to her father, Navnidhi Sharma, on Wednesday. The letter said the post-mortem examination had been carried out on May 13 as part of a case registered under sections linked to dowry harassment and the Dowry Prohibition Act.It added that the body is being stored in the AIIMS Bhopal mortuary at minus four degrees Celsius.“At present, the body has been kept at AIIMS Bhopal mortuary at minus four degrees Celsius. AIIMS Bhopal, through a written communication dated May 18, 2026, stated that to prevent decomposition, the body should be kept at minus 80 degrees Celsius, but this facility is not available at AIIMS Bhopal,” a rough translation of the letter written in Hindi said.The police also said that they had “no objection” to a second post-mortem examination being carried out.“You had submitted a request to the Police Commissioner's office and Katara Hills Police Station regarding the safe preservation of the deceased's body and for conducting a repeat postmortem examination. In this regard, you are being informed that the police have no objection to conducting another postmortem examination. However, since the deceased's body has been kept in the mortuary for a long time, there is a full possibility of decomposition,” the letter added.Notably, the family moved a local court in Bhopal seeking another post-mortem examination. Their lawyer, Advocate Ankur Pandey, told news agency PTI they had flagged concerns over lapses in the investigation and said that the FIR was filed three days after she was found dead.The hearing in the court was scheduled for Wednesday.Bhopal commissioner of police Sanjay Kumar also told PTI on Wednesday that the request for a second autopsy had been attached to the case diary, but said the final decision lies with the court.“Police are not averse to it. If a second post-mortem takes place, we have no objection,” he said.Bhopal woman death caseA resident of Noida, the woman married Bhopal-based Samarth Singh in December 2025. She died on May 12, and her family has accused her in-laws of mental harassment and dowry-related abuse.Police filed an FIR against her husband, advocate Samarth Singh, and mother-in-law Giribala Singh under charges linked to dowry death and harassment.Advocate Pandey said her parents were worried that Giribala Singh's sister, who works as a surgeon in Bhopal, could influence the second autopsy if it was carried out in the city.The family has continued to seek another post-mortem examination, claiming injury marks on her body were not properly recorded in the first report.Victim died due to hanging: AutopsyThe post-mortem report of the 33-year-old said that the cause of death was "antemortem hanging by ligature". It also noticed several simple injuries on different parts of the body caused by blunt force.The autopsy was conducted at the department of forensic medicine and toxicology at AIIMS Bhopal. According to the report, she was found hanging from a gymnastic ring rope on the terrace of her house at around 10:26 pm on May 12. She was declared dead shortly after midnight on May 13.The report said a double reddish patterned ligature mark was seen running obliquely around the upper third of the neck. The skin beneath the mark was described as dry, hard and "parchmentized". It also said that the ligature mark was incomplete at the back of the neck, news agency ANI reported.It also mentioned several findings linked to asphyxia, including congestion on the face, bluish discolouration of the ears and fingernails, and petechial haemorrhages in the right eye.With inputs from agencies