Former celebrity manager Disha Salian died by suicide, and no foul play has been found in her death, Mumbai police have told the Bombay High Court, even as her father, Satish Salian, insists she was gangraped and murdered.
In an affidavit filed last month, police stated that Disha jumped from a flat window on her own volition and that her postmortem report showed no signs of sexual or physical assault. They added that Disha was under severe mental stress due to family disputes and failing business deals at the time of her death.
Disha Salian died on June 8, 2020, after falling from the 14th floor of a residential building in Mumbai’s Malad area. Police initially registered an Accidental Death Report (ADR).
Satish Salian petitioned the High Court in March seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into his daughter’s death and an FIR against Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Aditya Thackeray, alleging a politically motivated cover-up.
The case came up for hearing on Wednesday before a bench headed by Justice A S Gadkari, which scheduled the next hearing for July 16.
Malvani police, who investigated the case, said Disha was intoxicated at the time of the incident and her fiancé, who was present, raised no suspicions of foul play. The police affidavit emphasized that the closure report was based on scientific evidence and the postmortem, which confirmed there were no signs of assault.
Police also revealed that a Special Investigation Team (SIT) later reviewed the case and its findings aligned with the initial investigation. However, the affidavit noted that further investigation is still ongoing.
In a new application, Satish Salian argued that the SIT’s probe into alleged gangrape and murder without first registering an FIR is illegal and accused authorities of disobeying court directives.
Meanwhile, Aditya Thackeray filed an application seeking to intervene, claiming Satish Salian’s petition was false, frivolous, and politically motivated.
