Versova police to quiz comestic surgeon in actor’s death

The police on Tuesday wrote to the cosmetic surgeon from Andheri who was named by actor Shikha Joshi in her “dying declaration” asking him to come to the Versova police station for questioning.
The police also sent a questionnaire to forensic doctors to determine whether the cut was self-inflicted or otherwise, and if there were any signs of sexual assault on the body. Preliminary post-mortem findings showed the injury was “cut throat”.
Joshi, who lived with actor Madhu Bharti in Andheri Lokhandwala, was found in a pool of blood with an 8cm-gash in the neck in the bathroom on May 16.
READ: 'BA Pass' actress Shikha Joshi commits suicide
On Tuesday, cops recorded Bharti’s statement for the second time. “Bharti had initially told us that she was alone at home when she found Joshi in the bathroom. Later, it turned out that Bharti’s friend, Anu, was also present. It was on Anu’s cellphone that they shot a video clip of Joshi explaining what had happened,” said a police officer. In the clip, Bharti can be heard asking Joshi who was responsible for her injuries. Joshi blamed the cosmetic surgeon against whom she had pressed molestation charges in the past and “many married men”.
“Though we believe Joshi’s death to be a suicide, we are not ruling out other possibilities. The post-mortem and Bharti’s statement were recorded on camera. We are going through the CCTV grabs of the housing society to check if they had any visitors on that day,” said the officer. Police are also going through Joshi’s cellphone records and will make inquiries with those on her contact list.
According to Bharti, in the past three months, Joshi was a victim of the casting couch prevalent in the entertainment industry. “She told me that people spoke rubbish to her and some even exploited her after promising a role. But she never got any work and had a financial crisis,” Bharti told TOI. She added that Joshi was upset after her separation from her second husband who is based in the US. “She believed she would not have had any problems had he stuck around with her. He wanted her to settle in the US with him but she couldn’t leave her teenaged daughter, who is from her first marriage, in India. She was hurt when he still decided to move to the US,” Bharti said.
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