Indian social media influencer and former pageant winner Nidhi Tiwari has died at age 30, leaving more than 1.6 million followers stunned as police investigate the circumstances surrounding her death.
Tiwari, who won the Miss Pretty India title in 2024, was found unresponsive at her family home in Singrauli, in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, over the weekend.
She was taken to a hospital but could not be saved.
Authorities are investigating her death as an apparent suicide, while police continue reviewing her phone records and the events leading up to her final hours.
The case has attracted widespread attention in India because of a social media post Tiwari shared shortly before her death.
In the emotional message, she wrote about filling an emptiness in her heart herself and encouraged her followers to love themselves.
She accompanied the message with a photograph of herself making a heart shape with her hands.
After news of her death spread, the post was flooded with messages from shocked fans and followers.
Tiwari had built an enormous online audience, with roughly 928,000 followers on Facebook and more than 700,000 on Instagram.
She regularly posted dance videos, modeling photos and glimpses of her everyday life.
Originally from Varanasi, Tiwari was living with her mother and younger sister in the Bhusa Mod area of Singrauli.
Before establishing herself as an online personality, she reportedly worked as a receptionist at a local hotel.
She later became involved in modeling and beauty competitions and won the Miss Pretty India title in 2024.
Friends and relatives said she hoped her success online would eventually lead to a career in acting and movies.
Investigators are now examining what happened during the hours before her death.
According to Tiwari’s family, she had been speaking on the phone with a man shortly before she withdrew to her room Saturday evening.
Her mother told authorities that Tiwari appeared upset following the conversation.
Family members later tried to get her to come out and eat, but she reportedly told them she wanted to be left alone.
When she did not emerge the following morning, relatives became concerned and authorities were contacted.
Police are now analyzing her phone records and speaking with people who had contact with her before her death.
Local reports have identified a man named Sonu Singh as someone investigators want to question about their communications.
Reports differ on whether he was based in Delhi or Punjab, and police have not accused him of causing Tiwari’s death.
Tiwari’s mother has reportedly told investigators that her daughter had known the man for more than two years after meeting him through her former hotel job.
Police are working to determine the nature of their relationship and what was discussed during their final phone conversation.
Authorities have not publicly announced evidence showing that the phone call directly caused Tiwari’s death.
Investigators are also reviewing her social media activity and other evidence recovered from the home.
Her death came only hours after she was active online.
One of Tiwari’s final videos showed her dancing to the Hindi song “Nadi Biche Naiya Dole,” while her post about self-love has taken on a much more painful meaning for followers in the days since.
Her death has prompted an outpouring of tributes from people who followed her modeling career, dance videos and pageant appearances.
For someone who appeared online before an audience of more than a million people, the sudden tragedy has also become a reminder that social media rarely reveals everything happening in a person’s private life.
The police investigation remains ongoing.