Gujarat Couple, 3 Children Found Dead, Relatives Suspect Debt Suicide Pact
A couple and their three children have died in Ahmedabad's Bagodara in a suspected case of mass suicide. The parents allegedly poisoned their two daughters and a son before dying by suicide. Relatives have said Vipul Vaghela (32) plied an auto-rickshaw and was under heavy debt. They suspect the financial struggles pushed him to poison his family and then die by suicide.
The couple and their children were found dead this morning. As soon as police were alerted, an ambulance was rushed to the spot and the five were taken to the hospital, where they were declared dead. Police have said the bodies of Vipul Vaghela, his wife Sonal Vaghela (26) and children Kareena (11), Mayur (8) and Princy (5) have been sent for autopsy. The bodies were found on two cots at their home. Police said they are investigating what led to this tragic incident.
The family, relatives said, was from Dholka and had been living in Bagodara in a rented home. Vipul operated an auto-rickshaw and was the sole earning member. A relative said Vipul bought an auto-rickshaw on loan and was struggling to pay EMIs. "He used to be under a lot of pressure due to financial strains. It is possible that he took this decision due to those difficulties," he said.
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Indian Express
23 minutes ago
- Indian Express
Why so many ‘snake rescuers' across India get bitten on the job
Deepak Mahawar was a popular snake rescuer from Madhya Pradesh's Guna district who on July 14 was seen riding a bike with a cobra slung around his neck. Although his video went viral on the Internet, the 42-year-old was bitten by the venomous snake. He died that night. Mahawar's is not an isolated case. Nobody is keeping a count, and only a fraction of stunts gone wrong make it to the media. But with daring acts of irresponsible snake handling in the garb of 'snake rescue' becoming a social media rage over the last decade, hundreds of 'rescuers' have suffered bites, many fatally. On July 6, 'sarp mitra' J P Yadav died of a cobra bite during a rescue attempt in Bihar's Vaishali. In May, another cobra rescue went wrong in Bihar when 'snake man' Jai Kumar Sahni died in Samastipur. In March, Santosh Kumar met the same fate in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, close to where another snake rescuer, K Murali, was fatally bitten by a Russel's viper last August. In 2023, Karnataka's 'snake' Naresh was carrying in his scooter's trunk a rescued cobra that killed him. In this long list of casualties, one of the most telling is the death of 'snake expert' Manish Vaishnav in Rajasthan's Pali in 2021. The 19-year-old died en route to a Jaipur hospital hours after being bitten by a cobra while addressing 'fans' on Facebook Live. Shortcut to fame, riches The irrational loathing for snakes — ophidiophobia — common among the masses is matched only by their reverence for snake rescuers (read handlers). 'I am a botanist by training and have worked on tigers for over two decades. But people are most impressed when I turn up for an occasional snake rescue,' said Dharmendra Khandal who runs TigerWatch, a non-profit in Ranthambore. Unsurprisingly, 'snake stunts' provide a path to instant visibility on social media, enabling influencers to rack up follower counts and as a result, enjoy big payouts. The biggest such snake influencer in India, Murliwale Hausla from Jaunpur, Uttar Pradesh, has a whopping 16 million subscribers on YouTube and 3.6 million followers on Instagram. The mid-range of the spectrum spans from Chhattisgarh's Kamal Choudhary (12 lakh YouTube subscribers) to Karnataka's Snake Hariha (2 lakh YouTube subscribers). Then there are many aspirants vying for the 1-lakh mark. Jose Louies, chief executive of non-profit Wildlife Trust of India, is censorious of snake rescuers who go to great lengths for financial gains. 'They tease snakes for viewership, even stage rescues. One video, for example, shows cobras (predator) and rat snakes (prey) together in a well. Shifting wild animals like that amounts to hunting under the Wildlife Act,' he told The Indian Express. Free for all industry Few states have specific regulations for snake rescue, that is, relocating a snake from a place where it poses a risk to people. Fewer are in a position to enforce those rules since forest officers often rely on volunteers to answer frequent rescue calls. 'There are just too many cases to attend to, particularly during the rainy season. Given our staff strength and the shortage of trained hands, we are forced to rope in private rescuers, knowing very well how some of them would milk those situations,' said a senior forest official in Madhya Pradesh. In 2018, Maharashtra issued a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for snake rescues, mandating training and documentation. Kerala made certification mandatory for snake rescuers in 2020, followed by Gujarat in 2021, Karnataka in 2022, and Odisha in 2023. So far, however, only Kerala with its technology-enabled, real-time response system — the SARPA App — has succeeded in keeping a tab on certified rescuers and blacklisting some of the unethical ones. Elsewhere, these rules have made little impact on the ground where self-styled 'rescuers' keep playing with fire. A high risk job Even while playing by the book, snake rescue is a high risk job. Of the four most venomous snakes of India, collectively referred to as the Big Four and responsible for a majority of snakebite deaths in the country, the krait (Bungarus caeruleus) is probably the easiest to handle. Known for its deadly neurotoxins, it can spring the occasional surprise but is usually docile, particularly in the daytime. The cobra (Naja naja) tends to follow the rescuer's movement, giving a fair indication of where it is headed. Not aggressive unless hassled, the roaring snake is capable of striking from a considerable distance. It usually contracts its hood — a visual cue — before lunging to strike. Vipers, on the other hand, are often aggressive without much provocation: there is no telling how they might behave. Lightning fast, the saw-scaled viper (Echis carinatus) is under 3 feet, and has a way of warning an adversary by rubbing parts of its body together, creating a 'sawing' sound. The muscular Russel's viper (Daboia russelii) can grow to double the length of the saw-scaled viper, and poses the biggest challenge for rescuers. It resembles a mighty helix poised to explode, and can reach up to 1.5 metres in a flash. Doing it right A simple snake hook and a pipe-necked sack are the best tools for rescuing a snake. These enable rescuers to lead the creature to a burrow-like opening, relying on its natural tendency to enter a dark space. Ideally, rescuers should not need to touch the animal at any stage. Teasing, displays and stunts with snakes are punishable under the Wildlife Act. While the availability of anti-venoms have improved, many rescuers bitten by snakes die during treatment. 'Typically, a snake is agitated during a rescue and likely to deliver a higher quantity of venom if it gets an opportunity to bite,' Louise said. Vivek Sharma, a Jabalpur-based herpetologist, underlined the human cost of recklessness. 'Most of these rescuers are under 40, with limited education, and from a modest background. Many of them are the sole earners in the family, some have young kids. They fail to appreciate the risk they take,' he said. Given that it is impractical to police thousands of snake rescuers in the field, Khandal has a radical solution: 'A stiff penalty for filming and posting rescue videos will disincentivise the stuntmen and leave only the serious rescuers to do the job. This is a vital service in a country where 40-50,000 people die of snakebite every year.' Jay Mazoomdaar is an investigative reporter focused on offshore finance, equitable growth, natural resources management and biodiversity conservation. Over two decades, his work has been recognised by the International Press Institute, the Ramnath Goenka Foundation, the Commonwealth Press Union, the Prem Bhatia Memorial Trust, the Asian College of Journalism etc. Mazoomdaar's major investigations include the extirpation of tigers in Sariska, global offshore probes such as Panama Papers, Robert Vadra's land deals in Rajasthan, India's dubious forest cover data, Vyapam deaths in Madhya Pradesh, mega projects flouting clearance conditions, Nitin Gadkari's link to e-rickshaws, India shifting stand on ivory ban to fly in African cheetahs, the loss of indigenous cow breeds, the hydel rush in Arunachal Pradesh, land mafias inside Corbett, the JDY financial inclusion scheme, an iron ore heist in Odisha, highways expansion through the Kanha-Pench landscape etc. ... Read More
Indian Express
23 minutes ago
- Indian Express
Fact or fiction? 7 memoirs that blurred the line
Memoirs are built on the promise of honesty. They offer a raw, intimate look into lives touched by trauma, transformation, or triumph, and readers trust that what they are consuming is at least fundamentally true. However, recently, Raynor Winn's bestselling memoir, which was recently adapted for screen, found itself in the eye of a controversy after she was accused of fabricating parts of her widely acclaimed life story. Published in 2018, The Salt Path recounts Winn's 630-mile walk with her husband, Moth, along the South West Coast Path after losing their home and receiving a terminal diagnosis of corticobasal degeneration (CBD), a rare neurodegenerative condition. The story became an inspiration for those struggling with challenging medical diagnoses, and sold over two million copies worldwide. The recent controversy is only the latest in a long line of publishing betrayals. For decades, authors have published so-called true stories that turned o James Frey's memoir about drug addiction and recovery skyrocketed after Oprah chose it for her Book Club. Brutal, unflinching, and famously detailing a root canal with no anesthesia and an 87-day jail sentence, it felt almost too intense to be true. In 2006, The Smoking Gun revealed that Frey had fabricated or grossly exaggerated key parts of the story. He had never been in a fatal accident, never served serious jail time, and had embellished nearly every detail of his 'rock bottom.' Oprah, feeling misled, called him back on air to publicly rebuke him. Frey's publisher issued a disclaimer. Frey, meanwhile, pivoted back to fiction with Bright Shiny Morning. Claiming to be a half-Native foster child raised in gang-infested South Central L.A., 'Margaret B. Jones' delivered a gripping account of violence, survival, and resilience. Critics hailed Love and Consequences as authentic and vital, until the author's real sister stepped in. Margaret B Jones was actually Margaret Seltzer, a white woman raised in suburban Los Angeles and educated at private school. Her entire memoir was fiction. Photos, staged interviews, even 'foster siblings' had been fabricated to sell the illusion. The book was recalled immediately, with only 19,000 copies in circulation. Seltzer's defense that she was trying to give a voice to unheard communities was dismissed as exploitation. Misha Defonseca's story was almost too miraculous to believe. At age 7, she claimed, she walked 1,900 miles across Nazi-occupied Europe to find her deported parents, lived with wolves, snuck into the Warsaw Ghetto, and killed a German soldier in self-defense. The book struggled in the US but became a massive bestseller overseas and was adapted into a French film. Eleven years later, researchers unearthed documents showing that Defonseca was Catholic and had been enrolled in a school in Brussels during the time she claimed to be wandering Europe. Her real name was Monique De Wael. She eventually confessed, saying the fabricated story reflected her emotional truth. Holocaust scholars were outraged, warning that such stories gave ammunition to deniers and distorted real survivor accounts. Clifford Irving pulled off a con that briefly fooled one of America's top publishers. Claiming to have secured the cooperation of reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes, Irving presented forged letters and fake interviews to McGraw-Hill, who gave him a $765,000 advance for the exclusive memoir. But the hoax unraveled when Hughes himself publicly denounced the book via a phone call with reporters. Irving's forgeries were exposed, and he served 17 months in prison for fraud. The incident remains one of the most infamous literary scams ever, later adapted into the film The Hoax starring Richard Gere. It exposed the publishing industry's blind spots. When Stern magazine announced it had uncovered Adolf Hitler's personal diaries, sixty volumes hidden since WWII, it was hailed as a historic breakthrough. The diaries were said to be recovered from a crashed plane and authenticated by historian Hugh Trevor-Roper. But the story fell apart within weeks. Forensic analysis revealed the paper, ink, and glue were all post-war. The 'diaries' were fakes created by forger Konrad Kujau, who had specialised in selling counterfeit Nazi memorabilia. He and the journalist who facilitated the deal both went to prison. The scandal cost Stern millions and embarrassed historians worldwide. Marketed as a touching memoir of a Cherokee boy raised by his grandparents in the Appalachian Mountains, The Education of Little Tree was beloved for its gentle wisdom and spiritual tone. It sold over a million copies and became a classroom favorite. But Forrest Carter was actually Asa Carter, a segregationist speechwriter for George Wallace and a former KKK (Ku Klux Klan) member. He had no Cherokee heritage, and the book's portrayal of Native American life was riddled with stereotypes and inaccuracies. Despite being exposed as early as the late 1970s, the book continued to sell and was even adapted into a film. Oprah recommended it on-air in 1994, later retracting her endorsement when she learned the truth. Today, it is classified as fiction, but many readers still believe it is an authentic memoir. Presented as the real diary of a teenage girl who spirals into drug addiction and dies young, Go Ask Alice was published without an author and claimed to be 'real.' Its harrowing portrayal of sex, drugs, and despair became a cautionary tale for generations of students. But no one could verify the girl's identity and no family ever came forward. Eventually, youth counselor Beatrice Sparks admitted to editing and 'enhancing' the diary. Over time, critics determined that much of it had likely been fabricated or written entirely by Sparks herself. Despite mounting evidence, the book remains on school reading lists and is still classified as nonfiction in some libraries. Sparks went on to publish other 'diary' memoirs, many of which followed the same sensationalist, moralising formula.
Indian Express
23 minutes ago
- Indian Express
2 Indians killed, one missing in Niger: What is happening in the West African nation?
Two Indian migrant workers were killed in the West African country of Niger on Tuesday (July 15), and another was abducted after a terror attack on their worksite, officials said. One of those who died was Ganesh Karmali, 39, from Jharkhand's Bokaro district. An activist from Jharkhand who has been working on the repatriation of the bodies told The Indian Express that the other man had been identified only as Krishnan from a southern Indian state. The abducted worker has been identified as Ranjeet Singh, hailing from Jammu and Kashmir. 'The Chief Minister has expressed concern over the abduction of Ranjeet Singh, a resident of Ramban, in Niger. He urges the Hon'ble EAM @DrSJaishankar and #MEAIndia to urgently intervene to secure Ranjeet's safe and swift return,' a post on X by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah's Office said on July 20. The Indian Embassy in Niger said the Mission, in the capital city of Niamey, was in touch with local authorities to repatriate the mortal remains and ensure the safe release of the abducted Indian. It also advised all Indians in Niger to maintain vigilance. How many Indians are known to be in the country, and what is the prevailing political situation there? We explain. According to the Union Ministry of External Affairs, around 150 Indians are currently in Niger. They are mostly engaged in the hospitality/service/business sectors. This presents a decline from 2023, when around 250 Indians were in the country. The Associated Press reported that foreigners are increasingly becoming targets of armed groups in Niger. Several have been kidnapped this year, including an Austrian woman who has lived in Niger as an aid worker for more than 20 years, a Swiss woman seized from her home in April and five Indian workers, also in April. In its modern history, Niger received independence from French colonial rule in 1960. For a majority of its post-independence era, it has seen single-party rule, military coups and limited space for the survival of democratic governments. Bazoum Mohamed's 2021 victory in the presidential election marked the country's first transition from one democratically elected president to another. But it was short-lived, and Niger again saw a military coup in 2023 led by General Abdourahmane Tchiani, who was officially sworn in as the president in March this year. He is supposed to serve for a transitional period of five years. Even before the recent political upheaval, the Sahel region (which Niger is a part of) was facing problems like climate change, poverty and terrorism. Lying to the south of the Sahara desert, it stretches from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea, including countries such as Nigeria, Senegal and Chad. It is also among the youngest regions of the world, with about 64% of the population under the age of 25. In some cases, the rise of terrorism has been cited in many countries as a justification for coups. Niger's western neighbours, Burkina Faso and Mali, also saw coups in 2022 and 2020, respectively. The AP also cited the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project as noting that June was one of the country's deadliest months on record. Islamic State-backed fighters launched a major offensive across the Tillaberi and Dosso regions, the latter being where Indians were killed. More than 100 civilians were killed in the exchange of fire. What complicates the existing issues is the presence of international actors. In an article for Foreign Policy in 2020, Samuel Ramani, an Associate Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute think tank, wrote, 'Instead of taking constructive steps to address the array of challenges facing the Sahel, great powers and regional institutions are exacerbating the region's problems.' 'Due to their intense focus on geostrategic competition and willingness to equate authoritarianism with stability, great powers such as France, the United States, Russia, and China, have actually perpetuated conditions, such as corruption and fragile state institutions, that contribute to rising political violence in the Sahel,' he added. One example is the Russian Wagner Group, which has supplied mercenaries to the region. On March 23 last year, Malian and Wagner Group soldiers launched a five-day attack on a border town to 'root out Islamist militants, killing more than three hundred civilians', according to the Council on Foreign Relations. According to a BBC report, the regional bloc ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) also imposed 'crippling sanctions' on Niger after 2023, such as border closures and a no-fly zone for all commercial flights. However, in January, Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger formally left the grouping. Historically, India and Niger had limited exchanges in terms of trade, but that has changed in recent years. The volume of trade has grown from around $95 million in 2018-19 to $203 million in 2022-23, and while Indian exports composed a major share seven years ago, of late the balance of trade is in Niger's favour. The main items being exported from Niger to India are Gum Arabic, Resins and other Vegetable saps and extracts, semi-precious stones, Oil seeds (Sesame), misc. grains, goat skins. etc. India has also extended Lines of Credit to Niger, for the construction of infrastructure and community projects. In 2020, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar visited the country.
