Sridevi died of ‘accidental drowning’ not heart attack, says forensic report

DUBAI: A day after her relatives expressed shock over manner of her death, Police in Dubai says initial investigation shows that Bollywood actress Sridevi drowned in the bathtub of her hotel room.

They found traces of alcohol in her body and this may have led to the accident, according to Gulf Times.

“The investigation is still going on to determine the circumstances surrounding the accident as the forensic report only says that she drowned,” Gulf News cited an official.

Dubai Police have confirmed that there will be further delays in repatriating the body of Sridevi, who died in the city on Saturday.

The police are trying to piece together the sequence of events and find out who was with her when the incident happened.

It is reported that the Dubai Police have released the forensic report on Sridevi’s death to her family and the Indian Consulate representative.

Strange error in the report

The forensic report says the actress died of accidental drowning. But there is a glaring error. The report mentions ‘drawning‘ for ‘drowning’. The report is issued by the authorities in Dubai.

Earlier in the day, autopsy was reported that she died of a cardiac arrest.

However, according to HT, Sanjay Kapoor, Sridevi’s brother-in-law, told Khaleej Times,

“We are completely shocked. She had no history of a heart attack.”

‘Nothing suspicious’

Hindustan Times cites its ‘official sources’ in Dubai as saying that there was ‘nothing suspicious’ about the manner of her death.

Sridevi is survived by her husband – producer Boney Kapoor – and daughters Jhanvi and Khushi. She was in Dubai to attend a family wedding.

Born as Shree Amma Yanger Ayyapan in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, she started acting at age four, appearing in several Tamil films in the 60’s and 70’s, and eventually dropping out of school for a career in the movies. She acted in Tamil, Malayalam and Telugu films, making her presence felt performing alongside leading men such as Kamal Haasan and Rajinikanth.

Sridevi made her Bollywood debut in 1979 with Solva Sawan, but it was in 1983, with Balu Mahendra’s “Sadma” that she made her mark in the Hindi film industry. The same year, she also acted with Jeetendra in K Raghavendra Rao’s blockbuster “Himmatwala”, cementing her place as one of Bollywood’s top actresses.

Sridevi took a break from films soon after she married producer Boney Kapoor in 1996. A noticeably leaner Sridevi made a successful return to the big screen 15 years later in Gauri Shinde’s “English Vinglish” (2012), playing a housewife taking English-language lessons. Her last screen appearance was in “Mom” (2017), as a mother avenging her daughter’s rape.