Latest news with #Vaishnavi
Hindustan Times
11 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
How a dowry death case in Pune has led to code for simple weddings in Maratha community
In the wake of Vaishnavi Hagawane's suicide, allegedly driven by demands of dowry by her marital family, members of the Maratha community converged at Ahilyanagar on Sunday to introspect and draw up a code of conduct to curb extravagant weddings, in the hope that such a societal pressure might help curb harassment of women. The meeting was chaired by Haribhakt Parayan Badrinath Maharaj Tanpure, a kirtankar of the Warkari tradition who belongs to a family of preachers known to advocate social equality. Over time he has earned recognition and lakhs of followers, and is known as a socially conscious kirtankar of the Warkari tradition, thanks to his progressive ideology. On May 19, after 23-year-old Vaishnavi was found dead at her marital home in Bavdhan, Pune, her father, Anil Kaspate, in an FIR filed at Bavdhan police station alleged that at her in-laws were pressuring them for a Toyota Fortuner, after the family had given them gifts in gold and silver. Vaishnavi's suicide created such a storm that her father-in-law, Rajendra Hagawane, an NCP leader, was expelled from the party, following which police arrested multiple members of the family, including Hagawane and Vaishnavi's husband, Shashank. Both the Hagawanes and Kaspates are Marathas. At the meeting in Ahilyanagar, participants condemned the dowry system and proposed an 11-point wedding code of conduct. Among the resolutions were: avoiding lavish weddings with no pre-wedding shoots, limiting the guest list to 100-200 people and using traditional musicians instead of DJs. Crucially, the community resolved to boycott weddings where pre-wedding photo or video shoots are displayed during ceremonies. 'Dowry must be avoided and the money should instead be kept as a fixed deposit in the girl's name,' the participants suggested. B Dhumal, an author and entrepreneur, who participated in the meeting, said: 'This incident has awakened the entire community. We deliberated over the issue and came up with suggestions. After compiling them, we have drawn up a code of conduct for weddings in the community.' Others who participated in the meeting include NCP MLA Chetan Tupe, former mayors of Pune Ankush Kakde and Rajlaxmi Bhosale, former corporator Shrikant Shirole, and Maratha activist Rajendra Kondhare. Shirole said, 'Middle class families often emulate the rich and get trapped in loans and thereby incur stress.' Bhosale added, 'Daughters-in-law must know that they will be supported by their families if they are harassed.' Members of the committee have now decided to visit different localities to spread awareness, 'as the community needs to adopt change on its own,' said Tanpure. But will the community follow a code that lacks legal backing? 'A large part of the community is not economically well off – for them this code will be convenient. As for the rich, if the poor decide not to support them, they will have to fall in line eventually,' said Dhumal. Sakal Maratha Samaj convenor Chandrakant Gade Patil, also a participant of the meeting, added, 'It is possible to hold weddings on a small scale once social pressure builds. During COVID-19, many did it successfully.' Marathas comprise over 30 per cent of the state's population. The community is also politically active with most public representatives including MLAs and MPs emerging from here. Over the past few years, the economically influential and politically connected community members have seen organising big fat weddings, attended by thousands. Earlier, on May 26, prominent Maratha families and political leaders convened in Pune to express concern over the culture of extravagant weddings, especially when coupled with demands for dowry. Reflecting on the way forward, Pune Congress chief Arvind Shinde said, 'The community has resolved to socially boycott families who harass their daughters-in-law. No one will marry into such families.' It now remains to be seen if this momentum for reform will sustain.
Time of India
2 days ago
- Time of India
How one phone call led cops to man accused in Vaishnavi's death case
1 2 3 Pune: For most of the 10 days that he was absconding from police, Nilesh Chavan, a co-accused in the Vaishnavi Hagawane death case, seemed confident the authorities had no idea where he was. But it was one conversation through his girlfriend's phone that helped police track him to the northern parts of the country and later, into Nepal. He would eventually be placed under arrest in Uttar Pradesh's Maharajganj. "He used his girlfriend's phone to stay in touch with contacts in Pune," said an officer with Pimpri Chinchwad police. "He had taken her along claiming they were going on a vacation, and drove to Delhi," the police officer said. During his time on the run, the officer said Chavan avoided using debit cards, paid only cash and even picked shops that didn't have CCTV. He also kept moving, from one place to another. The police officer, citing interviews with Chavan, said he decided to go on the run soon after Warje police registered a case against him, for allegedly threatening Vaishnavi's father with a gun. The older man had gone to Chavan's Karvenagar home to get his nine-month-old grandson back. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Trade Bitcoin & Ethereum – No Wallet Needed! IC Markets Start Now Undo After the alleged incident with the gun, Bavdhan police named him as a co-suspect in Vaishnavi's death, which is being investigated. The Pimpri Chinchwad police official said Chavan, along with his girlfriend - she has not been named in any FIR or case - first headed to Delhi, where it's believed they stayed for a day or two. "He then sent her back to Pune and proceeded to UP, en route to Nepal. Sometime during this trip, he used his girlfriend's high-end smartphone to video call a contact in Pune. Chavan used an end-to-end encrypted app, thinking the call would not be traced, but we had already put his Pune contact's phone under surveillance," the officer said. In fact, PCMC police's cyber wing was already monitoring calls to Chavan's close friends and relatives. "After that one call he placed to Pune, our cyber cell, led by assistant police inspector Pravin Swami, were alerted and they soon managed to get the IP address of the handset he used. They found that he was on a private bus. The team then managed to get CCTV footage from inside that bus, which confirmed he was on his way to UP from Delhi," the officer said, adding that from UP, Chavan managed to cross into Nepal. "When we discovered that he was in Nepal, Pimpri Chinchwad police commissioner Vinoy Kumar Choubey alerted his counterparts there and they helped us get the phone number of a local cab driver. We studied this driver's call history and the cyber cell zeroed in on one particular number, which Chavan had purchased in Nepal. We had his location," the officer said. Chavan was found staying at a low-budget lodge in Nepal's Bhairahawa (officially, Siddharthanagar), around 200km from capital Kathmandu. "We brought him to Maharajganj in UP where on May 30 (Friday), he was formally placed under arrest. We recovered three mobile handsets from him," the Pimpri Chinchwad police officer said. Police officials TOI spoke to said Chavan was making calls to Pune to stay updated on the investigation into Vaishnavi's death. On May 16, the 24-year-old was found hanging at her in-law's house in Bhukum. Her family have alleged that she was being harassed for dowry.
Time of India
3 days ago
- Time of India
Chavan remanded in police custody till June 3 in Vaishnavi dowry death case
1 2 3 Pune: Nilesh Chavan (34), a business associate of Shashank Hagawane and co-accused in the Vaishnavi dowry death case, was on Saturday remanded in police custody till June 3. The court of judicial magistrate first class V P Khandare also extended the custodial remand of Vaishnavi's father-in-law, Rajendra Hagawane (63), and brother-in-law, Sushil (27), till June 3. sThe court observed, "The remand report and case diary show there has been material progress in investigations. Chavan was taken into custody while he was in the process of crossing the India-Nepal border. There are allegations that he subjected Vaishnavi's baby to cruelty and threatened her parents with a firearm. Chavan is involved in the alleged harassment and suicide abetment of the victim. The allegation against him is prima facie supported by the statement of witnesses. " The court stated that Chavan's custodial interrogation was essential to ascertain his intention, motive and modus operandi, besides recovering his cellphones and collecting information related to the incident. The Pimpri Chinchwad police crime branch team arrested Chavan from Maharajganj district in Uttar Pradesh, close to the India-Nepal border, and brought him to Pune. Senior inspector Anil Vibhute of the Bavdhan police produced Chavan and the Hagawanes before the court. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like American Investor Warren Buffett Recommends: 5 Books For Turning Your Life Around Blinkist: Warren Buffett's Reading List Undo He filed two remand reports to send Chavan into custodial remand for five days and to extend the police custody of Hagawanes by three days. Pressing for Chavan's police custody, assistant public prosecutor Vijaysinh Jadhav told the court that three cellphones were recovered from him. Jadhav requested sufficient time for the investigating officer to analyse the call detail records of the phones before and after the crime, text messages, and retrieve data if deleted for collecting evidence. Jadhav argued that Chavan's custodial interrogation was essential to recover the phones of Vaishnavi's mother-in-law, Lata, and sister-in-law, Karishma, believed to be in his possession. The prosecution sought time to ascertain Chavan's motive behind keeping Vaishnavi's child in his custody and to identify the places where he travelled, stayed, and the people who helped him while he was on the run. On extending the Hagawanes' police custody, the prosecution said Rajendra and Sushil would be confronted with Chavan based on the data recovered from his phones to find out if any other person was involved in demanding dowry from the victim. Opposing the prosecution's plea, defence lawyer Swansand Govindwar pleaded for magisterial custody of Chavan and the Hagawanes. He argued that the police had recovered Chavan's phones, and the court earlier gave enough time to the police to interrogate the Hagawanes. The court upheld the prosecution's plea.
Indian Express
3 days ago
- Indian Express
Vaishnavi Hagawane death: Cops probe whether she was threatened at gunpoint
The Pimpri-Chinchwad police are probing whether Vaishnavi Hagawane, who allegedly died by suicide due to harassment over dowry, was threatened at gunpoint by Nilesh Ramchandra Chavan (34), who was arrested from India-Nepal border. A resident of Karve Nagar, Chavan was made an accused in the dowry death case on May 24 for allegedly causing cruelty to her 10-month-old son. After a rigorous search operation, police nabbed him at Sunauli in Maharajganj district of Uttar Pradesh, located on the Nepal border, on Friday. He was arrested and brought to the Bavdhan police station, around 4 am on Saturday. Police then produced Chavan before a court in Pune and sought his custody for five days to investigate his role in the case. Police said Chavan possessed a gun and a gun licence. Police told the court they want to investigate whether he threatened Vaishanvi with the gun. Police said they are also probing Chavan's financial connections with Vaishnavi's husband Shashank, brother-in-law Sushil and father-in-law Rajendra Hagawane. Police submitted before the court details of the offence lodged against him at the Warje police station in 2022, under sections 392, 323, 506/2, 504, 34 of the Indian Penal Code. Police said he was on the run for four months in this case, filed by his wife. Police told the court that Chavan is suspected of being a repeated offender for harassing women. A probe is on to find out whether Chavan has harassed more women in the past. Police are also investigating his cell phone calls with Vaishnavi's husband and in-laws, booked in the dowry death case. The court passed an order on Saturday, remanding Chavan to police custody till June 3. According to the police, Vaishnavi allegedly died by suicide at her in-laws' house in Bhukum in the Mulshi taluka of the Pune district on May 16. Her father, Anil Sahebrao Kaspate, 51, a resident of Wakad, lodged an FIR against her husband and in-laws at the Bavdhan Police Station on May 17. Police arrested Vaishnavi's husband, Shashank, 27, father-in-law and expelled NCP leader Rajendra, 57, mother-in-law Lata, 54, sister-in-law Karishma, 31, and brother-in-law Sushil, 27. Also, three others were arrested for helping Rajendra and Sushil Hagawane, while they were on the run. Shashank, Lata and Karishma were lodged in Yerwada jail after a court granted them judicial custody. Police said Chavan is a close friend of Karishma Hagawane. He was arrested while he was allegedly trying to escape to Nepal. He had allegedly taken illegal custody of Vaishnavi's boy after her death. On May 22, a separate FIR was lodged against Chavan at the Warje Police Station in Pune city for allegedly threatening Vaishnavi's father and family members when they went to their residence to take custody of her son on May 20. Subsequently, the Pune city police started the procedure for cancelling gun licences of Nilesh Chavan, Shashank and Sushil Hagawane. Meanwhile, the police produced Rajendra and Sushil Hagawane before the court on Saturday and sought an extension in custody for three days to probe them along with Chavan. Court extended their custody till June 3. Police said suicide note was not found with Vaishnavi's body. In the FIR, her father alleged that at the time of Vaishnavi's wedding, they had given 510 grams of gold, silver, and a Fortuner SUV to her in-laws. The FIR further alleged that Vaishnavi's in-laws had been abusing her, mentally and physically, asking her to bring Rs 2 crore more to purchase a property. Her father also said in the FIR that there were injury marks on Vaishnavi's body, alleging that this suggested physical abuse, adding that he feared that his daughter had been murdered. Meanwhile, police probe revealed that Vaishnavi had attempted suicide by consuming 'rat poison' on November 27, 2023. Also the postmortem of her dead body had revealed the cause of her death as 'death due to ligature compression of neck, with evidence of multiple blunt injuries over body.'
Hindustan Times
4 days ago
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Dowry death case: Man who threatened Vaishnavi's kin held from Nepal border
Pune: Nilesh Chavan, a close aide of the family of former Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Rajendra Hagawane and accused of threatening Vaishnavi Hagawane's parents and others with a gun when they went to his house in Pimpri-Chinchwad to take custody of her child, has been held from the Nepal border, a police official said on Friday. The police nabbed Chavan near the Indo-Nepal border after a nine-day manhunt. Acting on a tip-off, Crime Branch Unit 4, Anti-Gunda Squad and cyber cell of Pimpri-Chinchwad police arrested Chavan from Sonauli in Uttar Pradesh on Friday morning. He will be brought to Pune on a transit remand and expected to land at airport at around 2.30am on Saturday. Vishal Gaikwad, deputy commissioner of police (Zone 2), Pimpri-Chinchwad police, said, 'He will be produced in the court on Saturday.' According to the police, Chavan travelled to Raigad, Delhi, Gorakhpur, Sonauli and crossed the India-Nepal border at Bhairahawa and reached Kathmandu. He was nabbed from a private lodge when he returned to Sonauli. Vaishnavi Hagawane, 26, allegedly died by suicide at her in-laws' residence in Pune's Bavdhan area on May 16, with her kin alleging that her in-laws, the Hagawanes, and others had tortured her for dowry. Her father-in-law Rajendra was subsequently expelled from the NCP after the case hit national headlines. Vaishnavi's father-in-law Rajendra, husband Shashank Hagawane, mother-in-law Lata, sister-in-law Karishma and brother-in-law Sushil have been arrested in the dowry harassment-suicide case. After Vaishnavi's death, her nine-month-old child was with Chavan, who is close to the Hagawane family, the official said. 'When Vaishnavi's parents and others went to his house to take custody of the child, he threatened them with a gun. He was booked at the time at Warje Police Station for showing a gun. A case under Sections 80(2), 108, 118(1), 115(2), 352, 351 (2),3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Sections 75, 87 of the Juvenile Justice Act was registered at Bavdhan Police Station against him for not taking proper care of the child,' the official said. 'He was on the run since. We have now held Chavan from the Nepal border. He was planning to escape. He is being brought back to Pune,' said Vishal Hire, deputy commissioner of police (crime). Chavan will be arrested in the case registered at Bavdhan police once he arrives in Pune, said Sandeep Doiphode, deputy commissioner of police (DCP).
