Sridevi drowned in hotel bathtub, say Dubai police
POSTMORTEM ANALYSIS Actor ‘lost consciousness’; case referred to prosecutor
NEWDELHI/DUBAI: Bollywood actor Sridevi drowned in her hotel bathtub after losing consciousness, Dubai police said on Monday, after her shock death on Saturday night stunned her fans and colleagues in India.
The police cited the autopsy report in its statement, although it was not clear what caused the 54-year-old actor to pass out in the bathtub before a reported dinner date with her husband, producer Boney Kapoor, and whether the initial report of a cardiac arrest was inaccurate.
“Following the completion of postmortem 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 loss of consciousness,” the UAE government’s media office said on Twitter.
Other reports from the UAE, and other documents related to her death cited by Dubai newspapers, described the cause as “accidental drowning”.
The latest report gives a twist to the circumstances surrounding her death, and the police are trying to piece together the sequence of events to ascertain what exactly happened. Police have now referred the case to the public prosecutor.
The actor was under the influence of alcohol, traces of which were found in her blood, Dubai daily Gulf News reported, citing the forensic report. The newspaper said Sridevi lost her balance and fell into the bathtub and drowned. HT could not independently confirm if this contention was true.
Her body has been reportedly sent for embalming. The body had been due to be brought back to Mumbai on Monday by charter flight, but it’s not clear when Dubai authorities would release it until Tuesday.
Sridevi was in Dubai to attend her nephew Mohit Marwah’s wedding, and had stayed back after the ceremony.