Veteran actress Sridevi drowned in Dubai hotel bathtub: Forensic report

The mystery surrounding the death of superstar Sridevi (54) deepened on Monday after the Dubai government attributed it to “accidental drowning” in a hotel bathtub after losing consciousness. The police transferred the case to the “Dubai Public Prosecution” for investigation.

“Following the completion of post-mortem analysis, Dubai police headquarters today stated that the death of the Indian actress Sridevi occurred due to drowning in her hotel apartment’s bathtub following the loss of consciousness,” the Dubai government’s media office said on Twitter. 

As per standard police investigation procedures, Sridevi's husband and Bollywood producer-director Boney Kapoor gave his testimony on Sunday morning, after the late actress' body was discovered at Jumeirah Emirates Tower Hotel.

As per Khaleej Times, he has not been called so far for further interrogation. The Dubai cops has also trashed all media reports on this particular development.

While the initial claim was she died due to cardiac arrest, there was no confirmation whether it was detected during post-mortem. 

Khaleej Times quoting sources said the lab report indicated she slipped and fell into the bathtub that was full of water as she was in an inebriated state.The body is likely to embalmed only on Tuesday. 

The actress' family and social workers are still awaiting approvals for the deadbody's release from the Dubai public prosecution, which has now been referred by the local police department for further investigation. 

Gulf News quoting a public prosecutor said, “In such accidental death incidents, the results of the post-mortem and forensic examination reports are referred to the Public Prosecution as part of ordinary law enforcement procedures. The papers are revised by the prosecutors of the jurisdiction where the incident happened.” In case of any suspicious foul play, prosecutors do further detailed investigations before taking a call, Gulf News added.

While there was speculation that the body would be handed over to the family on Monday night after the public prosecution completes its formality, it later emerged that another clearance was required. But Indian envoy to the UAE Navdeep Suri had no clarity on the nature of the required clearance.

“It is their internal process. We do not know,” he told PTI. He also refused to speculate on the timeline for releasing the mortal remains, saying the UAE authorities were following their process.

How it happened Here’s what we know so far

• Sridevi and her family went to Dubai for a family wedding.

• She stayed back after the ceremonies while husband Boney Kapoor had flown back to Mumbai with their younger daughter Khushi.

• Boney Kapoor returned to her Dubai hotel to surprise her for a dinner date, according to Khaleej Times He chatted with her for a bit and asked her to get ready for dinner.

• Sridevi agreed and went to the bathroom. When she did not come out after about 15 minutes Kapoor called her out.

• He then knocked the bathroom door. Since there was no response, he broke open the door and found her collapsed in the bathtub filled with water.

• She was rushed to the hospital where she was declared dead on arrival.

• There was no clarity on how he managed to break open the door and whether he got assistance to do so.