Goa Police writes to forensic dept to appoint panel for Sonali Phogat's post-mortem

Panaji, Aug 24

Goa Police have written to the Department of Forensic Medicine at Goa Medical College for appointing a panel of doctors for conducting the post-mortem of social media influencer, actor and Haryana BJP leader Sonali Phogat (42), who died following a cardiac arrest here on Tuesday.

Deputy Superintendent of Police Jivba Dalvi told IANS that a case of unnatural death has been registered in connection with Phogat's demise.

"The post-mortem will be conducted on Wednesday," Dalvi said.

"At 9 am on Tuesday, information was received from the St. Anthony Hospital in Anjuna that Sonali Phogat was brought dead there. Preliminary inquiry has revealed that she had come to Goa on August 22 and was staying at a hotel in Anjuna. Early on Tuesday morning, she started feeling uneasy following which she was rushed to the hospital where she was declared brought dead," Dalvi said.

Stating that the statements of the relevant witnesses are being recorded, Dalvi said, "Anjuna Police have written to the Department of Forensic Medicine at the Goa Medical College for appointing a panel of doctors for conducting the post-mortem."

Phogat, who thrived on social media, had posted pictures and updates about herself on Instagram hours before she breathed her last.

Phogat was a TikTok star and 'Bigg Boss 14' contestant in 2020; she played the wife of a don modelled after the infamous Haji Mastan in the Zee TV serial 'Amma' opposite Nawab Shah; she appeared in a Bhojpuri film with Ravi Kishan, now the BJP MP from Gorakhpur; and she lost to Kuldeep Bishnoi, who was then in the Congress, in his family pocket borough of Adampur in the 2019 Haryana Assembly elections, contesting on a BJP ticket.