Mumbai: Plastic surgeon booked for model Shikha Joshi's suicide

Shikha Joshi

Seventeen months after model and Bollywood film BA Pass actress Shikha Joshi committed suicide, the Versova police has booked the cosmetic surgeon she had named in a video made by her friends before she died.

The Versova police had initially registered an Accidental Death Report (ADR) in the matter but have now booked the cosmetic surgeon Dr. Vijay Sharma in the matter on charges of abetting the suicide. The deceased model's brother Vishesh Joshi has demanded that a murder case be registered.

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"The autopsy report suggested not one but three deep cuts on her neck. She was strong enough to fight back and would never commit suicide. It looks like a cold-blooded murder. We demand that a murder case be registered in the matter," said Vishesh.

Brother cries murder
He added, "We had held a protest at Jantar Mantar in Delhi on her first death anniversary and had sent a memorandum to the Home Minister Rajnath Singh. In mid-October, my family got a call from the Mumbai police. I had visited the Versova police station, which recorded my statement and lodged an FIR in the matter for abetment of suicide. But we demand a CBI inquiry in the matter as it could have been a murder case."

Senior police inspector, Kiran Kale of Versova police said, "The case has now been transferred to the Oshiwara police station as most of the investigating officers of Versova police have been transferred."

Oshiwara police, senior police inspector, Subhash Khanwilkar said, "We have just received the case papers on Monday and the investigations are going on."

Doctor says
Sharma had in his statement to the Versova police stated that he first met Shikha in 2005, when she came to his Khar clinic for breast and stomach surgery. She had completed all formalities and even paid for the surgery.

Read Story: Mumbai: Model Shikha Joshi 'practised' thrice before slitting her throat

A five-year warranty for the procedure was also given to her, but Shikha returned in 2011, demanding that he perform the surgery again and that she shouldn't be asked to pay for it. But when she was asked to pay for the second procedure, she and her brother lodged a molestation case against him and had denied his role in Shikha's suicide.

Dying declaration
On March 16, 2015, while Shikha lay bleeding in a pool of blood after slashing her throat, her roommate Madhu Bharti had video recorded her statement in their New MHADA Colony flat in Versova. Instead of taking Shikha to a hospital, Madhu had told the police that she had recorded the video, as she feared she would be implicated in her death. The clip showed Shikha blaming Sharma and a few other ‘married men' for forcing her to take the extreme step.