Dowry death in Pune: Women’s commission failed to act on earlier complaint of abuse: Activist

Making the letter public, Damania said, “Had the commission taken serious cognisance of complaint by Mayuri’s parents, Vaishnavi would not have died by suicide.” Chakankar however called the allegations baseless, saying after receiving the complaint she had alerted the local police within 24 hours, who had followed up the case

MUMBAI/ PUNE: While on Friday morning the Pimpri Chinchwad police arrested suspended Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Rajendra Hagawane, and his son and former party worker, Sushil, for their alleged role in harassing Vaishnavi, Rajendra’s daughter-in-law, for dowry which led her to die by suicide on May 16, in Mumbai, activist Anjali Damania presented evidence of the family perpetrating similar violence on their other daughter-in-law, Mayuri Jagtap (Sushil’s wife), which was reported by her family to the state women’s commission on November 6, 2024. The commission, headed by NCP leader Rupali Chakankar, paid no heed to the complaint, alleged Damania.

Dowry death in Pune: Women’s commission failed to act on earlier complaint of abuse: Activist

Damania posted a copy of Jagtaps’ complaint addressed to Chakankar, on X on Friday afternoon. The Jagtaps were seeking the commission’s intervention against the Hagawanes’ growing violent acts. They said the family was putting pressure on them for an SUV -- Toyota Fortuner – and had dared them against approaching police saying they were politically connected and knew officers in the law enforcing agency.

Making the letter public, Damania said, “Had the commission taken serious cognisance of complaint by Mayuri’s parents, Vaishnavi would not have died by suicide.” Chakankar however called the allegations baseless, saying after receiving the complaint she had alerted the local police within 24 hours, who had followed up the case.

The letter drafted by Mayuri’s brother Meghraj and their mother Lata, was accompanied by pictures of injury marks on Mayuri’s body. “The Hagawane family was asking for a Toyota Fortuner SUV and money. They assaulted Mayuri and tore her clothes in the absence of her husband, Sushil, on November 6, 2024. They were putting pressure on Sushil to leave Mayuri. They also said a senior officer in the police force was her mother-in-law’s (also called Lata) brother,” states the letter, which HT has seen.

Meanwhile, when Chakankar met Vaishnavi’s parents in Pune on Friday afternoon, people gathered around her to question the functioning of the women’s commission. “The commission failed to give justice to both Mayuri and Vaishnavi, and many such sisters across the state,” said activists from a Maratha outfit Chhava. Chakankar tried to clarify her stand but as verbal arguments scaled up, she left the premises.

She told HT later, “The commission received the complaint on November 6, 2024, from the Jagtap family, followed by a cross-complaint by Karishma (Mayuri’s sister-in-law, and Sushil’s sister). The commission acted within 24 hours and directed the police to look into the matter. Police called both families and counselled them, as it was a family dispute.”

Damania however termed Chakankar’s move “merely procedural”. “I do not blame Chakankar, as she was following process. We need to improve the very process going forward and be more pro-active. Chakankar should have called police to review the matter; if she intervenes pro-actively, the system will improve,” she said.

Nabbing the Hagawanes

Rajendra and Sushil Hagawane were arrested at around 4:30 am on Friday from Swargate, Pune. People in the know told HT that the two had travelled across 11 different locations changing vehicles along the way over the last seven days to evade arrest.

With these two, the total number of arrests in the case of Vaishnavi’s suicide has risen to five. Vaishnavi’s husband Shashnak, mother-in-law Lata and sister-in-law Karishma were arrested earlier this week.

The father and son tried to escape the police net by travelling to Aundh, Pavana Dam, Vadgaon Maval, Alandi, Pusegaon, Pasarani (Satara) and Sangli, said an investigating officer from Pimpri Chinchwad police station.

“We deployed six teams to track them down till they finally landed in our net,” said a police officer, adding probe was on to seek out names of people who helped them evade arrest. The CCTV footage from the places the two visited shows them dining at a dhaba in Vadgaon Maval – the clip was widely circulated on social media on Friday.

Anil Kaspate, the deceased Vaishnavi’s father, told HT: “All of this looks suspicious – how can they roam about freely when they are on police radar?”

Addressing a press meet, DCP of Pimpri Chinchwad, Vishal Gaikwad, said: “Five people are now under arrest. All evidence in the case has also been collected; we will soon reach the root cause of the case.” Police invoked sections 118(1) of BNS for voluntarily causing hurt or grievous hurt by dangerous weapons in this case.

Physical assault prior to death?

The accused were produced in court on Friday. During the remand hearing, police informed the court that injury marks were found on Vaishnavi’s body, raising strong suspicion of physical assault prior to her death. Investigators believe multiple weapons may have been used to beat her, one of which — a plastic pipe — was recovered based on information provided by her husband, Shashank, who confessed to physically abusing her. Police suspect Rajendra and Sushil may have assaulted her as well.

Police also said Vaishnavi’s father was compelled to pay for interior design work in Rajendra Hagawane’s office. This was revealed by the contractor employed by Rajendra, Mahesh Parade. They also found that 51 tolas of gold, gifted to Vaishnavi by her parents, was mortgaged by Rajendra in a bank in exchange of a loan. Investigators are now trying to probe of she had consented to the transaction.

Defense lawyer Shivam Nimbalkar said, “Investigators need to find out the role of many others. Police must seize all the items the deceased received in dowry and weapons used in the crime.”

Warje police also booked Nilesh Ramchandra Chavan, a resident of Karvenagar, who is known to the Hagawanes, for allegedly threatening members of the Kaspate family when they arrived to take custody of Vaishnavi’s child on May 19.