Pune dowry death: Police custody of expelled NCP leader, son extended till May 31

Pune: A Pune court on Wednesday extended the police remand of expelled NCP leader Rajendra Hagawane and his son Sushil Hagawane till May 31 in connection with the alleged dowry death of the former’s daughter-in-law Vaishnavi Hagawane.

The court also extended till May 29 the police custody of three other accused – Vaishnavi’s husband Shashank, her mother-in-law Lata Hagawane, and sister-in-law Karishma, officials said.

Seeking remand extension, the prosecution said the police wanted to trace the phones of Lata, Karishma and Sushil and recover WhatsApp messages and chats from the devices.

The prosecution said they want to trace Nilesh Chavan, one of the absconding accused who had allegedly threatened Vaishnavi’s maternal family members when they went to take Vaishnavi’s baby after her death.

Vaishnavi hanged herself at her marital home in Bavdhan in Pimpri-Chinchwad town of Pune district in western Maharashtra on May 16. Her family has alleged she was harassed for dowry, including a demand for Rs 2 crore to purchase land, by Rajendra Hagawane and his relatives.

Police also told the court on Wednesday that they wanted to recover the objects that were used by Shashank to “beat” Vaishanavi before she took her life, and for that, they needed the custody of the accused.

Defence counsel Vipul Dushing contended that the case should not be linked to dowry as no dowry was demanded by Hagawanes from Vaishnavi's parents for the wedding.

Dushing said Vaishnavi’s parents had willingly given gifts and other articles. “However, after the tragic death, these gifts are being labelled as dowry. Ours is a well-to-do family, and there was no need to demand all these things,” he said.

The defence counsel claimed that the fight between Vaishnavi and Shashank stemmed from some of her chats. “The Hagawane family found some objectionable chats on the phone of Vaishnavi,” he said.

Dushing argued in the court that the police should also probe whether alleged harassment by the person with whom Vaishanvi was chatting forced her to take this extreme step.

He said there is no proof that she was subjected to physical torture on the day of her death, as none of the five accused were at home.

“There are some signs of bruises on her body, but there is proof which indicates that those bruises were from the same day (when she took her life),” he argued.

After hearing the arguments, the court extended the remand of Rajendra Hagawane and Sushil until May 31 and three other accused till May 29.