When the unfortunate news of Sridevi passing away hit the Internet, it was reported that she died due to a sudden and major cardiac arrest, however, there seem to be new developments now. It is said that the actress died of accidental drowning in her hotel bathtub after losing consciousness. And these new developments could have led to the delay in releasing her body to send back to Mumbai for last rites.
Indian envoy to the UAE Navdeep Suri told a leading news agency that the embassy had been informed that the Dubai police could only release the body after another "clearance". He, however, did not say what type of a clearance was awaited. "It is their internal process. We do not know," he said. The Dubai Government said in a tweet the police had transferred the case to the "Dubai Public Prosecution" which will carry out regular legal procedures followed in such cases. "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 loss of consciousness," the Dubai Government's media office said on Twitter. A leading Gulf daily also reported that the body was likely to be embalmed by today noon (Dubai time).
As of now, it is not clear what caused the actor to lose consciousness, and whether the initial report of her death due to cardiac arrest still holds. Her family has not commented beyond their initial statement given by Sanjay Kapoor, Sridevi's brother-in-law and has requested the media not to contact them as they grapple with the tragedy. A Dubai-based channel has also reported that the actress was under the influence of alcohol and hence she feels unconscious and passed away. However, this hasn't been confirmed by authorities. The channel also attached a copy of the UAE government's forensic report on its Twitter handle. The report, citing accidental drowning as the cause of death, has a stamp of the "Ministry of Health UAE" and the director of preventive medicine, Dubai, Dr Sami Wadie. The report mentioned the actor's full name, Sreedevi Boney Kapoor Ayyappan, her passport number, date of the incident (February 24, 2018) and the cause of death.
Well, we await confirmation on any of these new developments and hope to see the body being sent home at the earliest so that the family can perform her last rites with any hassles. They have been through a lot already. We pray that her soul rests in peace.